


Light in the Dark

by Halo_Girl_243



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, The Adventures of Sinbad (TV)
Genre: Child Abuse, Dark Past, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, Mental Breakdown, Multi, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-20 10:54:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 21
Words: 48,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10661103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halo_Girl_243/pseuds/Halo_Girl_243
Summary: When Sinbad encounters a young woman, no older than he, his first impression is thrown off balance as he learns how dark her life was before he found her.





	1. Chapter 1

“Everything, now.”

“Huh?” Sinbad asked quietly as he turned to see two girls there, one wasn't much younger than him, with blonde hair and fierce purple eyes, while the other girl was only five or six with the same hair and green eyes. 

“Money, jewelry. Hand it over, all of it,” said the older girl, as her ponytail shuffled behind her along with her bangs that hang mostly to the left side of her face.Her hand firmly gripping the handle of a sharp dagger. 

“You can’t be serious,” Sinbad replied, with a smile as he lifted to knock the blade away. “You two are only girls how are you-agh!

His sound of pain came from the blonde gripping his hand and twisting it with strength the rivaled his own, as she moved in close, pressing the deadly edge of the blade to his throat. He just smirked at her, wincing a bit, and as he opened his mouth to talk he was cut off again as her knee made his jewels making him fall to his knees and allowing the girl to move behind him and tug at the base of his ponytail tightly the blade remaining at his throat. 

She then looked to the younger girl and nodded, and as the younger girl moved towards him the older girl tugged at his hair, warning him wordlessly not to try anything as the smaller girl took his sword and unclipped his necklace, along with his coin purse. The younger girl then nodded to her, and the older girl then pulled the blade away and released his hair, but before he could react, her foot met the back of his head, forcing him into the slightly muddied ground as both fo them took off. 

“Hey! Get back here!” he called getting up and wiping the mud off of his face as he ran. 

The older girl looked back behind her younger sister and saw Sinbad making ground towards them, and when they made it into the marketplace road, Reika pulled out her dagger and spun on her heel getting into a ready position. 

“Get out of here Clara,” she said to her little sister. “I’ll handle him.”

The little girl nodded and continued to run, and when Sinbad got close she exploded towards him, and he pinked for a moment before he narrowly ducked under the blade, sacrificing a lock of his hair as he did, and when he rolled to the side and popped to his feet, the girl jumped up and sent him a pin kick before landing and catching him across the face with her free hand. Making him growl a bit in frustration as he stumbled back.

He rolled his aching jaw as he looked at her, his eyes on the blade sh switched to her right hand as she held in front of her horizontally as the tension of the fight built, until it finally snapped when she charged him quickly again, fists and blade flying as they clashed. Though until a sharp scream ripped through the air, making them both look and see Clara down the road being held up by a guard, with another guard on either side of him. 

Sinbad heard a growl from the older girl as she forgot about him and went after the guards, jumping up and drop kicked the one of the right, before using her agility and sweeping the feet of the one holding her sister, making her drop Sinbad’s items that they had stolen, and when the little girl moved to grab them, her older sister, gripped her by the shirt and threw her out of the way of a blade. 

“Leave it, just run Clara!” she ordered, as she knocked the spear away of one of the guards with her blade. 

Clara did as she said and turned, but she bumped into Sinbad who picked her up, only to be immediately smacked by her smaller fists as she screamed and kicked. By the time Sinbad caught her hands and held her still more guards had come and were now standing around as they held the older girl to the ground as she continued to struggle. His eyes looked over the guards and saw that they the three guards from before all had deep cuts lingering on their bodies as they bled heavily. He then looked down and saw the girl’s dagger in front of him in the mud, picking it up and putting it in his belt. 

“Lord Sinbad, we are sorry for this, these girls, especially the older one have been a bitch to capture and contain for years,” he said and then handed him his items, before looking to the younger girl. “Would you like us to take her as well?”

Sinbad noticed how the older girl looked to him with angered and slightly fearful eyes, no doubt for her little sister. 

“What will happen to them?”

“They’ll both most likely be sold as slaves, that’s what happens to most of the young girls when they are imprisoned,” the guard answered. 

His brows furrowed, and he looked to the older girl who suddenly slammed her head back onto the guard behind her, and backflipped behind him to wrap the chain of her shackles around his neck and strangle him as she looked ot the others with fierce eyes, and then to Sinbad, “Put her down, or I kill him.”

He did as she said, slowly putting the girl down who walked up to the guard and took the keys and unlocked her sister from the cuffs before the older girl picked up her little sister and took off in a sprint, jumping up onto a cart before moving gracefully onto a house before running away. 

“After her!” one fo the guards yelled before they took off after them. 

Sinbad just stood there for a few moments, trying to process what had just happened, before his mind drifted to the older girl. She had fought with a ferocity that was rare to find, and how she had defended her little sister until the end, he then reached behind him and pulled out her dagger, and was surprised that it seemed to be rather expensive and no doubt it was stolen from someone less lucky than himself. 

He then sighed and tucked it away, rubbing the back of his neck. He knew he should just leave it and walk away, but for some reason he wanted to talk to her. Maybe even help her. She looked pale, malnourished, underweight, but at the same time strong and fierce. The way she had defended her little sister until the end got him thinking too, she would useful if he were to gain her loyalty, perhaps he could even make her his bodyguard. 

He smirked and then walked off back to his company to go discuss the idea with Jafar, and when he got there the younger boy looked at him with a raised brow. His grey eyes inspecting his dirtied from, dried mud and dirt littering his clothes, along with a bruise on his chin. 

“What happened to you?”

“I was mugged.”

Jafar’s eyes narrowed, “By who?”

“This girl and her little sister?”

He raised a brow “Huh?”

“Yep, I want to recruit the older girl, maybe make her my bodyguard,” he replied with a smile and a nod, making his friend's eyes narrow. 

“This isn’t motivated by anything else is it?” Jafar asked. 

“No? Why?”

“Nevermind, let’s go find this girl, I’ll be the judge of whether she’s of actual use or not.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Pathetic!” a man yelled as the back of his hand met Reika’s cheek, making a loud sound. 

Clara flinched from the sound, but Reika’s eyes remained lifeless and blank, since she had found the numb place to escape to long ago, a skill that had been useful over the years of receiving abuse. 

“That’s two days in a row you’ve brought me nothing!” the older man boomed, and gripped her neck as he looked into her numb purple eyes. “I should kill you for being so fucking useless!”

He growled when he saw that he had no effect on her, and he tightened his grip and looked to Clara the one place that he could land a punch that did true damage, “If you fail me again, it’ll be her who receives the punishment.”

Life in the form of pure primal rage snapped back into her eyes as she lifted her hand to hit him, but he caught her fist before it made contact, a wicked smirk crossing his face. He then flipped the older girl onto the bed and looked to Clara, “Get out of here you little shit, I’m done with you.”

The life slipped from her eyes once again as he leant forward, his hand around her throat, tight enough to be a threat, but loose enough to allow her to breath, as his sick and twisted tongue ran over her skin, making tears spill from her eyes as she fell deeper into the numb and dark void. 

~

A concerned look grew on an elderly woman’s face as she nodded in confirmation, “I know of the girls, but you should be careful. They live with a very dangerous man, and the older girl, the one with the purple eyes, she’s dangerous enough on her own.”

“Thank you, but we can handle it,” Jafar said. 

The elderly woman nodded and pointed down the alley of shacks that were rampant within the slums they were in, “The house with the green rag in front of it. That’ll be their master’s.”

Jafar nodded and the two walked down the street, and stopped in front of the house. Sin knocked on the wood next to the cloth door, but when there was no reply his eyes floated to Jafar who nodded as he drew his rope dagger, while Sin gripped the handle of his sword, but before they charged they heard a cry of pain followed by a deep voice. 

“Quiet, you fucking bitch.”

A fire lit inside Sinbad and he stormed into the shack and saw a rather large man over the familiar girl, his hand around her throat as he thrusted into her, grunting with a smirk as he looked into her eyes daring to groan in pleasure as tears fell from her swollen right eye. Quickly the djinn capturer recovered from the shock of the scene and moved forward, pulling the man off of the blonde girl and throwing him to the dirt floor. 

“What the fuck?!” the older man yelled. 

He went to charge Sin, but he was quickly trapped by Jafar who used his household vessel to shock the man and knock him clean out while Sinbad moved to Reika, he put a hand on her cheek as she looked into her distressed eyes as she panicked for a moment when she saw him. 

“Ssh, it’s okay,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

She seemed to calm down as she looked into his golden eyes and his brows furrowed as he inspected the damage on her body. Her right eye was nearly swollen shut, and on her neck there were bruises in the form of the man’s large hands, along with bruises on her wrists, and bite marks on her skin that were bleeding, before moving to wrap the blanket she was laying on around her and picking her up bridal style. Holding her tightly and closely as he turned to Jafar. 

“Come on, she needs a healer.”

They quickly walked out of the shack and Sinbad looked down to Reika as he walked and saw that her eyes were numb as she leaned her head against his chest, her body seeming to go limp against him, he opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off with a swear as a little foot met his shin swiftly, making him stumble a bit before his eyes locked on the little girl. 

Her brows were furrowed in a cute kind of anger that only small children could muster, that is until she pulled out the shiv, “Put Reika down, now.”

“Whoa, easy, we’re trying to help her,” he explained. “We’re not going to hurt her, I promise. You can come with us if you want.”

The little girl looked to her sister and then back up to him, “You promise?”

Sinbad nodded, “I promise, come, my company is this way.”

Clara hesitated, but nodded and reached up to her older sister, who reached out to her as well and took her hand as they walked all the way to the company and when they walked in all eyes turn to them and quickly a few workers dropped what they were doing and rushed over to see the girl in Sinbad’s arms, all of them furrowing their brows at her weak and injured state, and he smiled softly as someone called for someone to fetch the healer who luckily had been in the room and rushed over. 

The older took one look at Reika and her brows furrowed, “She needs to lay down, so I can inspect her completely, can you take her to a room while I graba  few supplies, Lord Sinbad?”

He nodded, “I’ll be with her up in my room,” he then looked to Jafar. “You should go get Rurumu, she’s going to want to know about this.”

Jafar nodded and Sinbad brought Reika up to his room and laid her down on the bed gently, and as he moved away he was surprised when her hand flew up and gripp his sleeve tightly, and when he looked into Reika’s eyes, he saw the familiar glints of pleading and fear in her eyes as she looked at him. 

“D...Don’t...Go,” she replied in a strangled voice. 

He blinked a few times before nodding and sitting down on the bed next to her. Reaching down with his other hand and gently prying her hand off of his sleeve so he could hold it tightly, doing his best to try and comfort her as they waited for the healer. Many thoughts ran through his head about exactly what the girl had gone through, and he squeezed her hand knowing that she was stronger than most for surviving for gods know how long in the slums while being raped and abused.

“I’m sorry, Rei,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks, making Reika sit up immediately ignoring her own pain as she tended to her sister, putting her hands on her cheeks and wiping the tears away with her thumbs. “If I were just stronger and faster, you wouldn’t...he wouldn’t of hurt you again...this is all my fault, I’m so sorry.”

“Not...your..fault,” she croaked out as best she could. “Never...your...fault.”

The little girl only continued to cry, a sense of admiration beamed in Sinbad as he watched Reika pull her into her lap and cradle and comfort her, abandoning thoughts of her own distress to tend to the little girl. 

The older woman before then walked in and moved to start to inspect and treat Reika’s wounds and bruisings, a sad look on her face as she did, her heart seeming to bleed for the beautiful girl that had been damaged by a wicked man, and when she was done she nodded to Sinbad before leaving. He then turned to look and saw Reika cradling her sleeping sister, looking down at her with a soft smile before kissing the top fo her head. 

“Reika?”

She turned and looked to Sinbad with attentive eyes, “How many years were you in the slum?” he asked and then held his fingers up signalling that she could just sign it to him since it hurt for her to talk. 

He watched with furrowed brows as she held up ten fingers, and then added another after that. Eleven years.

“Were you under that man the whole time?”

She gave him an affirmative nod, and he looked at her with a sense of pity, and he reached out and took her hand again, “I’m so sorry, Reika. I can't even imagine what that was like.”

The older girl didn’t respond, just looking away, her amethyst eyes drifting down to look at sheets as she thought. Though both of them looked up when knocks sounded at the door and when a large woman poked her head in, Reika looked a bit alarmed, making Sin chuckle as he squeezed her hand as he stood, “It’s okay, that’s just Rurumu.”

She nodded to Reika, before she looked to Sin, “A word please.”

He nodded and looked to Reika, “You should try to get some sleep,” he said softly before pulling his hand away and walking outside the room, closing the door softly. Reika could hear them talking outside the door, but she felt herself drifting off as a tiredness that was familiar washed over her, and she laid back, curling around her little sister. Closing her eyes and falling asleep quickly. 

~

The next morning Reika woke up to the bustling noise of the company below. Her purple eyes opened and looked out the window to the rising sun and then when she looked down to where Clara had been her brows furrowed when she didn’t see the little girl. She got up, flipping the blanket that had been put over them and panicked as she searched around the room until she found a change of clothes on a desk, along with a note. 

She picked up the note and looked to the parchment with furrowed brows at the foreign symbols before setting it back down and reaching for the clothes, changed into the simple white toga with white shorts underneath and black slippers, before walking out to find her little sister. She searched with furrowed brows for the little girl, high and low. 

“Is that her?” Vittel asked Jafar as he pointed to Reika, who looked around the floor of the company with a worried look. 

The younger boy looked up and nodded when he saw Reika there and nodded to the worker in front of him, confirming permission for the shipment of the goods before walking over to her, “Reika? Did you not get the note.”

“I...I can’t,” she started as the words struggled to from with her bruised vocal cords. 

Jafar then raised a hand telling her to stop as he smiled softly, “I’m sorry I didn’t realize. Clara is with Lady Rurumu and Lord Sinbad in the back building. Just go right out the back door and you’ll see it.”

The blonde nodded and followed his instructions, spotting the back building and walking up to and opening the door, but when she heard laughing she was caught off guard. She peeked in slowly and saw Sinbad making funny faces at Clara as she ate, making the little girl giggle, while Rurumu watched with a smile. Though sinbad spotted Reika peeking in from the corner of his eye, and turned to look at her, tilting his head at her in a playful way with a bright smile on his face, “Good morning, Reika.’

“G...Good Morn...ing,” she replied, as she opened the door and walked in. 

He merely smiled and she walked over and took a seat next to her little sister silently. A woman then came over shortly, putting down a bowl of porridge in front of her with a smile, “Good morning, Miss. I put some extra honey in yours, put some meat in those bones,” she said, pinching her cheek in the way only the aged could get away with. 

“Thank you Kiara,” Sinbad said for her. 

The woman nodded and walked away and Reika slowly picked up a spoon, and hesitantly took a bite of the unfamiliar food, her eyes being glossed with a glint of surprised before she started to dig into it, making Sinbad chuckle as he watched her eat it eagerly as if the porridge were a prized steak, “Is it good?”

She nodded happily and then went back to devouring it, and in no time Kiara came back with a second helping, which she immediately began to devour again. 

“It's okay,” Rurumu said, understanding why the older girl was eating so much and so quickly as if someone would come in and take it away from her. “There will always be food here.”

Upon hearing the Reika slowed down a bit, and stopped at her second bowl. The older girl then turned towards her sister and Sinbad’s brows furrowed up when he saw the deep purple bruising leaking through the bandages on her neck. He reached out, but when he accidently hit her skin she turned sharply her eyes narrowing on him as she gripped his wrist sternly. Though her eyes then went wide and she released him and looked away as if she were embarrassed. 

“Good reflexes,” Rurumu commented, “and if your testament is true to how well she fought yesterday than I may have a position in mind for her. Something that she could handle easily.”

Reika and sinbad both looked to Rurumu as the older woman spoke, she then looked to Sinbad, “She could be your bodyguard.”

The older woman then looked to Reika, “Would you be willing to do that?” she asked her. “Would you be willing to put your life on the line for him, and protect him at all costs?”

The blonde looked to the older woman before looking back to Sinbad, holding his gaze for a few moments before nodding, “I...would.”

~

Later that day as the sun set over the sea, Sinbad looked around for Reika, he had found Clara speaking to Hinahoho, but he couldn’t find her older sister. He then walked out of the balcony of his room and when he heard a sniffle from above, he looked up to the roof with furrowed brows. He quickly climbed up onto the roof and he saw Reika there facing the sunset, her knees tucked into her chest as her body shook with sobs, her head resting on her knees. 

His brows furrowed and he walked over putting a hand on her shoulder. She jolted and turned quickly, but calmed when she saw it was him. He then sat down next to her. 

“You don’t have to hide to cry anymore,” he said. “If you were sad you could’ve just come and found me.”

He then reached over and wiped a tear from her cheek, “I know you’re not used to having people who care, but I want you to know that I care about you, okay?”

She  looked at him wide eyed as the tears continued to flow. She then closed her eyes again and looked downwards letting out a few more sobs, covering her eyes with a hand. Sinbad’s brows furrowed upward, and he reached out hesitantly and then pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms back around him as she cried into him, her whole body shaking with sobs. 

He stroked the back of her hair, “It’s okay, Reika. It’ll be okay.”

“Th...Thank you,” she choked out. “S...Sinbad.”

She continued to cry into him until she fell asleep against him, and he picked her up carefully and jumped down to the balcony before walking back into his room, and setting her down gently on the bed. He watched her sleeping form and brushed back her blonde hair from her face with a soft smile. 

He then left leaving her to sleep. 


	3. Chapter 3

Reika sat there quietly at the table, others chatting around her as her little sister digging in happily at the table while the older girl’s eyes floated around the room. Her hand clenched as she caught movement out fo the corner of her eye, as the figure moved closer to to them, and she sucked in a breath as they came right behind them and relaxed a bit when they continued to walk away. 

“Reika?”

Her eyes snapped forward and she saw the smaller boy whom she had met yesterday, the boy with the white hair and eyes who had told her where to find the food house. 

“Y-Yes,” she answered, as her brow twitched a bit from the pain that still came from her vocal cords. 

“I’m Jafar, we spoke a bit yesterday,” he said, and then glance down to the seat in front of her. “May i sit with you?”

She nodded and he smiled softly and sat in front of her and before he moved to eat, he noticed that Reika had barely touched her own food and that she was still tense as her eyes darted around the room tracking the movement throughout the room. Jafar’s brows furrowed, “It’s okay, Reika, relax. No one is going to hurt you here.”

Her eyes then met his and she saw the skepticism in them, and he wished he knew what was going up inside that head, as her eyes went back to the room. 

“Reika gets nervous when a lot of people are around,” Clara explained, making her older sister glare at the revelation of the information. 

“Why does she get nervous?” 

Clara shrugged and when Reika noticed her little sister’s food was gone she switched out their food, putting the empty bowl and bare plate in front of her while she slid her remaining food over. Immediately Clara glared to her sister, “Rei, we don’t do that anymore!” she protested. “You need to eat. Miss Ruru said you’re too thin.”

Jafar inspected her from and noticed how clear he could see her collarbones and how pale her skin seemed to be compared to her younger sister. There was no doubt that she was unhealthy, and no doubt not eating when other people were around wasn’t going to help. He then watched as Clara moved the food back to her sister, “Please, eat, I’ll watch okay? Just do it for me, okay?”

Reika looked to her little sister, her brows furrowed upward before nodding and started to eat, her brow twitching with each swallow of porridge and meat. Jafar ate as she did before he pulled out some of his work to do and started to work on it, catching the older girl's attention as she watched him read and scribble things down in a foreign way. 

Jafar looked up to her and couldn’t help but to smile at the cute look of wonder on her face as he did, as he recalled that she couldn’t read herself, “Do you want me to teach you? To read?”

She hesitated before leaving him unanswered as she continued to eat, making his own brows furrowed before he went back to work, and when she finished she got up and took Clara’s hand before they both walked out, and his eyes watched them carefully as they walked off and out of the food house. 

“Any luck with her?” Sinbad asked as he walked up, sitting down next to Jafar. 

“No, but it's only been two days, and she was raised in the slums,” the young boy replied. “She’s closed off for a reason, I’m surprised she even let you comfort her last night, though I suppose it's thanks to your usual  _ arua _ .”

The purplette smiled, “I can’t help that I’m charming.”

Jafar just sighed, before looking to him seriously, “Do not make a move on her, do you hear me? She is in no way ready to deal with your bullshit.”

“I  _ know _ ,” he replied sternly. “I wasn't going to try anything.”

“Good.”

~

_ Take care of her, Reika, promise me. _

The words rang in Reika’s mind along with a replay of her mother’s passing everytime she laid eyes on her mother’s dagger, the only thing that she had ever truly owned. It now laid in her lap as a small breeze blew through her hair, her sister passed out next to her, sleepily under the comfy rays of the sun, her head resting on her thigh, bringing back dark memories that her younger sister never had to endure. 

_ Reika looked to her mother with tear stained as as her mother continued to cough up blood as tears rolled down her cheeks in pain as the infection started to take it's true toll on her body, her vision blurring in and out as her body burned in protest doing everything it could on it's own to attempt to rid her body of the bacteria.  _

_ Her eyes then looked to her five year old daughter who had tears streaming down her face as she held the crying baby in her arms.   _

_ “Mama, stay, I...I don’t know what to do,” she said. “You have to...you have to feed her...I can’t…” _

_ Her mother swallowed as she felt herself starting to slip away, and reached out to press a hand to her terrorized daughter's face, “Take care of her, Reika, promise me.” _

_ “Why? Where are you going?” _

_ Reika watched as the life seemed to slip from her mother’s eyes as her hand fell from her cheek and hit the dirt floor of the shack, making her daughter’s eyes go wide as she reached out to shake her arm, “Mama? Mama wake up,” she said. “You can’t go...I don’t know what to do! You can’t go! Please, don’t leave us!” _

That had been the second time Reika’s heart had ever broken, the moment she had been left an orphan after her father had died in the Reim Empire’s war with the Parthevian Empire. That day after is mother died is when she had met  _ him _ , and even just the inkling of him made her gaze sharp as she looked back to Clara. She knew they were in danger as long as he was alive, so like a good older sister she kept her guard up and made sure Clara didn’t leave her side. 

“U-uh, Reika?”

Her gaze snapped to the side where she saw a young man with purple-pink hair as he looked to her with timid eyes. 

“Who a-are you?”

“My name’s Vittel, I uh, work here,” he said. “Rurumu told me to come get you. She wants to talk with you.”

Her eyes narrowed before she picked up her little sister and got up following Vittel down and through the company, her little sister sleepy sounding in her arms her head on her older sister’s shoulder. Reika could spot the sweat in the older boy’s brow as they walked and how several times he had stutter stepped and lost his balance making her raise a brow in slight annoyance as he continued to apologize as they walked. 

When they got to an office Vittel opened the door and let Reika and Clara inside where the older girl spotted the Immchukk woman whom she had met before. She gave them a smile before gesturing to the seating pillows in front of her. Reika hesitated, but moved forward putting her sister down onto the pillow carefully before sitting and looking to the larger woman.

“Good morning, Reika, how are you feeling?”

“F-Fine.”

“Good, now I’d like to discuss the matter of your education, I was informed that you don't know how to read or write this morning,” she explained, making Reika’s brow twitch. 

Seemed information moved quickly among these people. 

“I was also told that Jafar offered you to read and that you turned him down, is that correct?”

She nodded. 

“Why did you decline?”

“W-What does he...want in return?”

Rurumu raised a brow, “In return? I think you’re confused Reika, he doesn’t want anything in return. He just wants to help.”

Her eyes narrowed. There was no such thing as free help, she had learned that day one in the slums. Rurumu’s smile faded as Reika remained silent, and she then sighed, before raising her hand and giving the young girl the chop, making her jump back as she gripped her head.

“The fuck!” She croaked out. 

Rurumu’s eyes narrowed, “You  _ will  _ speak when spoken to, as should any young lady like you should. Now sit and participate.”

The blonde scowled at her before sitting down keeping the hostile look on her face as she watched her hand’s movements and tensed her legs, ready to evade should the older woman swing at her again. 

“Now, we will start you and your sister’s education tomorrow. At that time you will both start to learn how to read and write and you, Reika, will learn how to behave and act as Sinbad’s official bodyguard while Jafar trains you in combat, and you  _ will _ be eager and open to every lesson. Do you understand?”

Reika nodded hesitantly, and Rurumu then smiled to her before her husband walked in. Reika watched the large blue haired man with caution as he walked in, wondering if he would hit her too. 

“This is my husband, Hinahoho,” Rurumu said. “He offered to show you around today.”

“Hello there,” he greeted softly. “It’s nice to meet you, Reika.”

“You can leave Clara here, she will be safe to sleep,” Rurumu said. 

Reika’s eyes drifted to her sister, and the older woman could see the hesitation in her eyes before she got up and nodded to Hinahoho who smiled and led her out of the room. As Hinahoho led her around he could see how timid she seemed to be as they went into room full of larger people, and he couldn’t help but to smile softly as she jumped when people approached her with smiles and greetings. 

“W-Why are they so nice?” she asked him. 

“I bet you’re not used to it, huh? People being this kind?”

She gave him an affirmative nod. 

He then put a hand on her shoulder, “You don’t have to be tough here, Rei, you can let your guard down here. You’re safe.”

She wanted to believe him, she wanted to trust his kind eyes, but that man was still out there. The man who had controlled her every action for the last eleven years. He was alive and breathing, and until the moment his breath stopped Reika was not going to let her guard down. She had tried to escape before by going into the care of a gladiator whom she had tried to rob, only for the gladiator to be killed in his sleep and for her to be raped next to his freshly dead body. She wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice, and as soon as she was stronger she was going to hunt him down and kill him for everything he had done to her, for everything that he had ever forced her to do. 


	4. Chapter 4

 

Reika grunted as she reeled back from Jafar, her arms wrapping around her gut as she coughed from the shock of the hit. 

She looked back to him with narrowed eyes as she caught her breath, before drawing a deep breath before charging again, baiting the trap as she swung again with her right fist, but when he went to counter, she brought her knee up to connect with his gut, but he caught her knee and pushed it down before giving her a flat fisted blow to her diaphragm, knocking the wind out of her as she stumbled back. 

“I’ve seen enough,” he said, putting his hands behind his back. “You’re a good brawler, good for people with medium to no training, but you’re practically useless against anyone with more skill than you. We’ll need to work on that, now take a ready position.”

She nodded and shifted her weight onto the balls of her feet, putting her hands up in an offensive position, open with her left hand in front of her right hovering at the same level as her chest. 

“How’s it going out here?” 

They both looked up and saw Sinbad standing in the doorway to the company a bright smile on his face, the usual sparkle in his golden eyes. 

“She’s skilled for not being formally trained,” Jafar answered and then smirked. “I can see how she was able to mug you so easily.”

Sinbad glared at him before walking up to the blonde, “How are you doing Reika?”

“I’m okay.”

“How are your wounds healing?” he asked, reaching out and lifting up her chin gently to get a better look at the bruising on her neck, making his brows furrow before taking her wrist and inspecting the bruising on her joint along with the bandaged bite marks on her arm and shoulders. While he did Jafar’s eyes narrowed on him, and watched, making sure that he tried nothing else as he continued to inspect Reika, a bit confused on why she let him touch her so familiarly. 

“Are you sure she’s okay for this?” Sinbad asked turning to Jafar. “She’s still pretty banged up, shouldn’t we give her a little longer to heal?”

“I wanted to start,” she replied. “It’s comforting for me to fight.”

“Really?” he asked. 

“It’s all I know how to do,” she explained and then smiled a bit, making Sinbad smile back enjoying how she looked with her eyes a little brighter, “I thought I was good at it, until I went toe to toe with an assassin.”

“ _ Former _ assassin.”

She held her smile, “Sorry, shortie.”

“That’s okay, street rat.”

Sinbad snorted a bit, “You two already have pet names?”

“He called me street rat during the first round,” she explained. “I called him shortie in the heat of the moment.”

Sinbad just smiled softly at how relaxed she seemed to be, even yesterday she was tense and anxious, but now she was looser and smiling, though he could still tell that she was holding back, as if she were walking on thin ice or egg shells. There was no doubt still a long way to go with her recovery, and there was the small matter of how no one knew exactly what they were dealing with when it came to her. 

They had only able to dig up that her father had died in the war with Parthevia, and how that had led to Reika’s mother not being able to afford a midwife or healer when she gave birth to Clara causing her death from infection, but after that there was nothing, she was a blank canvas with only a dot or two of color to them, the only thing they knew was that she had somehow come under the care of that man, and used to do tasks for him, but they had no idea what she did. They were in the dark about her, and since she was so keen on keeping her high walls up with chained and locked gates, Sinbad was determined to find out more about the blonde girl in front of him. 

That certain smile fell on his face along with a glint in his eyes, the look he used to get what he wanted from women. He then reached out touching her cheek ever so softly with the back of his fingers as he traced her skin softly as he moved to tuck her golden locks behind her ear, lighting a trail of sparks underneath Reika’s skin as he did, making her brow twitch at the new and odd sensation as he tucked her bangs behind her ear, his fingers then moving to her chin gripping it softly. 

“Please be careful, Reika,” he said in his flirty tone. “I hate seeing a woman as beautiful as yourself in pain.”

He then realized her slowly and walked away, making her eyes narrow in confusion as he did. She didn’t know whether to punch him or let him be. The way he had touched her and how it had made her feel made her want to hold him up against the wall by the neck and interrogate him on the fuck had just happened. No one had touched her so gently and had spoken to her in that manner before, and absolutely no one had given her that sensation before. 

“Are you alright?” Jafar asked. 

She snapped out of her thoughts looking to him and nodding, before setting herself again to continue the lesson.

~

After Reika’s lessons that day she was worn out as she ate her dinner alone in the dining house. Letting out several yawns as she ate slowly, just glad to finally have a break. The day had been exhausting between her combat lessons in the morning, reading and writing lessons in the afternoon, and finishing up with her bodyguard etiquette class, bus despite her exhaustion, she was happy. Jafar and Rurumu had been nothing but kind to her, and she felt like she was finally finding a purpose, a reason to get out of bed each day besides just the necessity to survive. 

Though there was something lingering in the back of her mind as she ate, as her hand subconsciously stroked her cheek like Sin’s hand, her mind replaying the memory over and over again in her mind as she tried to decipher the meaning behind it. No one else had touched her like he did, so she ruled out the possibility of it being a thing that acquaintances do, perhaps possibly friends, but it was too early for that wasn’t it? She had just met him three days ago, and on top of that he didn't touch Jafar or anyone else like that either. 

Her thoughts were cut off when she heard Sinbad and Rurumu waking in, the two grabbing food and sitting in front of Reika, just simply nodding to her before continuing their own conversation. 

“I just don’t understand why they would back out,” Sinbad said. “It was a good deal, besides if we don’t get that spice to the buyer it's going to look bad on us.”

“I know, we’re trying to find another supplier, but we can't find anyone who has any to spare,” Rurumu replied. 

“What spice do you guys need?” Reika asked. 

They both looked to her and Sinbad then pulled out a pouch and put it on the table, she then reached for it and opened it recognizing the familiar scent and the distinctive blue color. She then put the pouch back on the table. 

“I know where you can get some,” she said, making them both look to her in surprise.

“Where?” they asked at the same time. 

“I know a guy in the slums,” she replied. “The man I lived with put me in his care, and by care I mean I did a few jobs for him.”

“Jobs?”

“Intimidation, collecting owed money, beating the shit out of those who didn’t pay, the usual,” she replied, putting both of them off that the young girl in front of them referred to criminal and violent actions as ‘the usual’, which reminded them yet again that they knew practically nothing about the young woman in front of them, as Sinbad began to wonder if she had killed anybody for the second time that day. “His name is Jackeye, he can get you the spice.”

“That’s not an option,” Rurumu replied. “We can't purchase anything from the blackmarket, that would look bad on-”

“Then let me buy it, and I’ll sell it you,” she replied. 

Sinbad raised a brow, “You don't have any money, how are you going to buy-”

She then pulled out her dagger and put it on the table, “How much for the dagger?”

Sinbad blinked at her for a few minutes before looking to Rurumu with a smirk, “Ooh, she’s good,” he commented. 

Rurumu raised a skeptical brow, “You sure you can get the spice?”

Reika nodded in confirmation, and the older woman sighed, “Alright, but I’m going with you.”

“No good,” Reika replied. “You have proper speech, posture, and smell of money. He’ll never let me get away with a low price if he knows your involved. Send me with Mahado.”

“Mahado?” Sinbad asked. “Why?”

“He’s big and quiet. Perfect.”

“How does that make him perfect for the job?” Sinbad asked. 

“Rich people talk a lot,” she answered, “especially you.”

A pout crossed his face as Rurumu just smiled at the burn she had delivered flawlessly, though she knew she should be scolding the girl for not being very ladylike as they discussed, but she supposed she could sacrifice a teaching moment to knock Sinbad’s ego down a couple of notches. 

“Trust me on this, Mahado and I will go and we’ll bring back the spice, but there’s one last thing.”

“What is it?”

“I want fifteen percent of the cut you make on the sale.”

Sinbad’s brow twitch a bit as he looked to her, “And what if we refuse?”

“I take my dagger and walk away.”

His eyes narrowed, “What makes you think that you’re in any position to refuse?”

“You need the spice,” she replied. “I need my own money. You're welcome to try on your own with Jackeye, but he’ll rip you off completely. I can get you a good deal.”

He held her gaze sternly and she just gave him the same look, not backing down. He sighed, “Fine, you have a deal, I’ll give you five hundred gold for the dagger, no more, no less. You’ll get the payment in the morning along with Mahado and a carriage to carry the spice, get as much as you can, understood?”

She nodded and slid the dagger towards him a glint of worry in her eyes as she spoke softly, “Take care of it, it’s kind of important.”

He took it carefully as Reika got up and put her plates in the bin before walking out. He then looked down at the dagger, his brows furrowing a bit at how beat up it was. The blade was scraggly and a bit dulled, any gold that had once been on the handle had been ripped off and no doubt sold, leaving just a husk of something, he didn’t understand it's worth, but for some reason it was valuable to her. 

He smiled softly as an idea popped into his head, deciding that he had his own task to attend to in the morning as well. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I was on vacation with my family.

_ “Do it, Reika.” _

_ Her arm was shaking as she tightened her grip on her blade, her eyes wide in fear as she looked down to the woman in front of her who was looking up to her with pleading eyes as she cradled her child. Tears were streaming down her face as she screamed pleads to let her and her child live, begging a younger Reika to let them go, making Reika let out shaky breaths as she looked to them, not knowing what to do.  _

_ “Do it, Reika. Kill them both,” her master said from behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder, before tightening it with his familiar grip that made fear spike inside her. “Do it now, or else Clara will pay the price.” _

_ Her amethyst eyes snapped up to him, her and filthy short hair that barely drifted past her shoulders shuffling as she did, making tears from in her eyes as she looked back to the mother and the child, knowing what she had to do. She opened her mouth to apologize, but nothing came out as tears started to stream down her cheeks, as she remembered her vow that she would do anything and absolutely anything if it just meant Clara could live another day.  _

_ She walked towards them, lifting the blade as she moved towards them slowly, her heart screaming at her top stop, but her mind screaming even louder to keep going. As she stood over the woman she looked right into her eyes as she craddled her child that was no older than Clara’s age of one. His eyes were blank as he looked up to Reika who held the blade, and that had cut her more deeply than the mother who screamed and cried for mercy. He was too young, too young to understand, and he would never be able to understand. He would not only be robbed of his life, but the ability to experience a life, to experience everything that life had to offer.  _

_ She looked back to the mother’s eyes as her hand shook with the blade above her.  _

_ “Do it! NOW!” his deep voice boomed behind her.  _

_ Reika let out a few omre shaky breaths the world blurring around her, as she looked into the mother’s eyes. Her cries going deaf to her ears as she only heard the sound of her heart thumping in her ears and the sounds of her quivering breath, and the world seemed to slow as she hurled the knife down towards the mother, the sound of the blade digging into her eye playing on repeat into her mind as the image burned into her mind.  _

_ She held the blade for a few minutes as the mother’s body jerked with the last movements her body would ever make on its own as her blood spluttered and fell onto her child. Reika watched frozen as she watched life slip away from a human being for the second time in her life, her chest clenching tightly as regret, guilt, anger, grief and fear hit her like stones being thrown from all around, making tears stream down her cheeks as she let out a pained cry as she pulled the knife out letting the freshly dead body fall to the ground.  _

_ “Now the child.” _

_ Her eyes drifted down slowly to the child who looked up to her with shocked and scared eyes, and Reika lifted her balde once again her entire body shaking as she looked into his eyes, and with another cry she fell to her knees as she drove the knife right through the chest of the child, his blood splattering onto her face as the knife pierced through his skin, and she couldn’t breath as she watched the third soul blink out of existence.  _

_ She pulled the knife from the skin and dropped it as though it were hot iron as her head fell to the floor, her hands covering her eyes as she let out sobs of pain and regret.  _

_ “I’m sorry!” she cried out into her hands. “I had to! I’m so sorry!” _

_ She let out another pained cry as a single thought ran through her mind.  _

You had to. 

_ She went wide eyed and froze as the though rang through her mind over and over again.  _

You had to. You had to. You had to. You had to. You had to. **_You had to_** **.**

_ She didn’t want to accept it, the reality of her new life. She wanted to be her mother and father, she wanted to be held in her father's strong and warm arms while her mother sang her to sleep. She didn't want to be forced to kill people and become a monster. She didn’t want to be in this much pain.  _

**Then don’t feel anything.**

_ Her shaking breaths and tears haltered as she sat up, her eyes completely numb and lifeless as she felt herself enter a place in her mind she had never known. A realm where there was nothing. Absolutely and completely nothing, as her mind came to realize something.  _

This is who I am now. 

_ She blinked a few more times before getting up and looking to her master who smirked as her goal of shattering the little girl in front of him had been completed, she was his now. Before she had been nothing but a whiney and weak brat, but now. Now she was a weapon, a new tool for him to use, and hopefully she would be just as useful as the other he possessed.  _

“Reika?”

Reika was pulled from the flashback as her eyes looked back at herself in the mirror, before she turned to Clara who was sitting on the bed across their shared room, a worried look on her face. 

“Are you okay? You’re crying.”

Reika’s eyes looked back to the mirror and she confirmed her little sister’s statement, before she moved to quickly dry them, as the same little voice that had been driving her for years came floating back into her mind. 

**_You had to._ **

She then looked back to her little sister, the obvious lie still ringing in her head, and gave her the best possible smile she could muster, “I’m alright, I just had an eyelash.”

“Oh,” the little girl replied, the look in her eyes signaling to her sister that she obviously wasn’t buying it, “Okay.”

Reika then sighed, she hated lying to her sister. She wanted to confess her regret to everything that she had done, but at the same time she feared what the little girl would think of her if the little girl know just how much of a monster she was. Would she be scared of her? Would she hate her? Even the possibility of those two things shook the older girl down to her core. The last thing she wanted was to lose Clara, and she would do everything in her power to keep the little girl by her side. She was her little light, the only thing that kept Reika tied down and kept her from acting on her mountain of regret. 

There was then two sharp knocks at their door before it opened to reveal Sinbad who stood there with a serious look on his face, “The gold is with Madhado and in the cart, you ready?”

She nodded and got up before moving to her little sister giving her a smile before kissing the top fo her head, “I’ll be back in a few hours, okay?”

“Where are you going?”

“To see Jackeye.”

Clara’s eyes went wide before she turned to Sinbad a look of rage that mimicked her sister’s exactly, that made him jump, “What deal did you make?” she growled at him. “Why did you make Reika have to do bad things again? She doesn’t want to do bad things!”

“Whoa, easy Clara,” Reika said, drawing her sister’s gaze back to herself. “Sinbad didn’t do anything, and no one’s making me do bad things, okay? You don’t have to worry about that, I’m just going there to get some spice. I promise that I’m not going to do the bad things again.”

Her little sister took a deep breath, relief crossing her features before she smiled up to her sister, “Okay, just keep your eye out,” her sister said before making one eye go crossed eyed, making her sister chuckle at the joke. 

“I don’t get it,” Sinbad commented, raising a brow.

Reika turned to look at him, “You know why they call him Jackeye?”

“No.”

“Becuase he’s got a jacked up eye!” both her and Clara replied making one of their eyes cross with a skill few with gifted with as they stuck their tongues out, before they both giggled. 

Clara then hopped up and hunched her back keeping her eye crossed, as she spoke in a deep and heavily accented voice making odd faces as she spoke, “Oi! Laddy, what er ya bloody starrin’ at! Get back to yer work!”

Reika tried to stifle her laughter, but it failed as she burst out in true and genuine laughter for the first time in a long time, and as soon as Sinbad heard it his eyes went a little wide as his breath hitched as he watched her, absolutely mesmerized by her gorgeous laugh. The way her head tilted back slightly, how she closed both eyes, how her brows were folded upwards, how her loosed hair shuffeld with each small jolt of her shoulders, and especially the sound. It was angelic and yet adorable at the same time and he couldn’t help but to smile softly as he watched her. 

She eventually calmed down, wiping the small tears that had built up in her eyes before plucking her little sister off of the bed and setting her down on the wooden floor before bending over and kissing the top of her head, making the younger girl look up to her with a bright smile. 

“Sinbad volunteered to look after you today since Rurumu is spending the day with Hinahoho and Kikiriku, okay?”

Clara nodded and looked back to Sinbad with a bright smile and he returned it before looking to Reika, “I’ll take good care of her.”

The older blonde then looked down to her little sister “Behave, alright?”

“Okay.”

Clara then walked towards Sinbad and the young man smiled down to her before looking back to her sister, “Mahado is with Jafar collecting the gold now, they're making sure to separate it out like you told them to.”

She smiled softly to him, “Thank you, Sinbad.”

He held her gaze for a few moments, taking a few seconds to indulge in the stern peace that flowed behind her eyes, before turning away, taking Clara with him as he left the room. The little girl looked up to him with a curious eyes, “So what are e doing today?”

“Well,” he said as he took out Reika’s dagger. “I was thinking of getting Reika a new dagger, maybe a dual set with a belt, since this blade is pretty beat up and beyond repair. Though I saw how important it was to her despite that, so I was thinking we could get it cased for her.”

A smile crossed Clara’s face and she nodded happily, “I think that’s a good idea. Rei really loves that knife and she would never get rid of it.”

He smiled back down at her, “Then let’s get to it, okay?”

~

Reika looked to Mahado as they pulled up in front of the port warehouse with the carriage, both of their eyes looking to Jafar who was acting as their driver. 

“Don’t make a move unless I say so, understood?” she asked, her tone low and serious. “You too Jafar, a wrong move here could not only cost us the spice, but our lives as well.”

She got a nod of confirmation from Mahado before looking to Jafar and getting a nod from him as well. Her eyes closed as she took a deep breath before she climbed out of the back of the cart, Mahado behind her, carrying a sack on his back. They walked up to a side door of the warehouse that was being guarded by two men, both fo them equal to Mahado’s size. 

They looked down to her, “What do you want?”

“I’m here to see Jackeye,” she replied.

“No one goes in or out, boss is busy,” the man replied. 

She narrowed her eyes on him, “Tell him that  _ Little Bird _ is here to see him.”

Both of the men’s eyes went wide before they scrambled to open the door for her, letting her and Mahado walk in. Their eyes wandered around the warehouse, spotting the godos and crates that lined the shelves as they walked through the pathways. There was everything anyone would ever need in this warehouse, food, wine, jewelry, spice, and more importantly magic tools. Jackeye’s specialty was always smuggling magic tools in and out of Reim. Reika recognized a few of the tools that she had used herself when she worked for Jackeye. 

“Ah, if it isn’t Little Bird,” she heard his familiar voice. 

She looked up and saw him standing there, despite Clara’s impression she had performed this morning, Jackeye was a rather handsome man. He was tall, muscled with dark hair and had a green eye. He had the lookings of any pirate or smuggler, but the only exception was he didn’t cover his crossed eye. The eye in questions was discolored with some shade of green that a noble women would whip out a fancy name for, but Reika honestly didn’t give a shit. 

“Why do I get the honor of your presence, Lass?” he asked, his accent apparent, yet subtle at the same time. 

“You have any of that Angelian Spice?” she asked him smoothly, adoring her poker face that she had learned to hold over the years, knowing that showing any hint of emotion towards an opponent more skilled than herself was a mistake that only the dead made. 

“Just got a large shipment in fact, but that’s quite the expense, especially for someone of your….status,” he replied. 

“I have gold, I just need the spice,” she replied. 

He looked surprised, “Do you now? How much?”

“Three crates.”

“That’s going to cost you, how much do gold do you have on ya, Lass?”

“Three hundred,” she lied flawlessly. “I’m willing to give you a hundred off the top of the sale, I already have the buyer set up.”

His eyes narrowed a bit, trying to crack through her to see if she was telling the truth, but it was the same as always, nothing. She had always been incredibly hard to read, not displaying much emotion or expression, hell she ahd n’t even spoken the first two months he knew her. He then sighed before looking up to her with a smile, “You’ve been good to me Little Bird, you were one of my best workers I’ve ever had,” he replied. “I also may have accidentally gotten attached to that odd charm of yours, so I’ll give you the spice for the three hundred, and that cut off the top as well. It’s not my usual rate, but I like you Little Bird.”

She then smiled back. He had been somewhat of a mentor towards her, and in fact had been the one who had trained her and taught her to negotiate, though of course no one could negotiate with the same amount of charm as the man in front of her, “Cut the crap and give me the spice, Old Man.” 

He chuckled, and nodded to his boys who moved the crates out to the carriage, and after they were in Reika nodded to Mahado who handed the gold over. She then looked to Jackeye who held his hand out to her, “I’m happy for ya, Lass. You’re turning your life around,” he replied. “Just keep an eye out for who-know-who alright? He came around here sniffin’ for you already.”

Her eyes narrowed and she nodded and shook his hand, “I’ll keep my guard up.”

“What’re you going to do if she shows that ugly mug of his.”

“I’m going to kill him,” she answered bluntly, making both Jafar and Mahado look to her surprised while Jackeye just nodded with an amused smirk as he nodded his head. 

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you Little Bird,” he replied a serious look crossing his face as he spoke softly as to not allow Mahado and Jafar hear. “You do whatever it takes to keep you and the wee lass alive, alright?”

She nodded with her own serious look before turning to climb into the carriage, and as Jafar started to ride away she looked to the other two gold sacks in the bottom of the cart. She smirked before turning and picking it up, “Hey, Old Man!”

He turned and watched as she tossed the bag of gold towards him, he caught it with an oomph and looked to it before smiling and chuckling, knowing that it was a trick that he had taught her himself. He turned away handing the bag off to one of his men, “That little shit.”

~

Reika hopped out of the carriage and watched as men got to work unloading the crates and taking them outside while she turned and looked around the street. Her eyes scanning the area carefully searching for a particular face, when she found nothing she looked down to the stone ground, knowing that Jackeye had been right. 

She had to be willing to do everything and anything to survive, and with that thought she felt the weight of the burden grow on her shoulders once again. 

“Reika!” Vittel called rushing out of the building towards her. 

She turned a bad feeling sinking into her when she saw the look on his face, “Sinbad and Clara were jumped in the market! Guards saw a large man knock Sinbad out, before taking him and Clara away, they’re looking for them now, but it's been hours and they still haven't found anything!”

Her eyes were wide before they shifted as her eyes narrowed as pure rage ripped through her system, her teeth gritting as she snarled. If he had touched a single hair on Clara’s head in that time she was going to rip him apart limb from limb, and if he had done anything to Sinbad she would roast him alive in a fire. 

She then looked to Vittel  with eyes of someone who was ready to make a declaration of war, a mix of craze and absolute fury. Like a mad dog who had just decided what it's meal was going to be that night, and he knew that she was not to be fucked with as she turned away. 

“W-Where are you going?” he asked. 

“Hunting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think! I love constructive criticism!


	6. Chapter 6

 

Sinbad let out a goran as his eyes floated open, his head throbbing intensely from where he had been hit. 

“Sinbad!” he heard someone hiss in a whisper at him.

He searched for the voice and saw Clara there, forcing himself to sit up, noticing that both his hands and feet had been bound in chains. He looked around and saw that they were in some sort of shack before looking back to her, his brows furrowing when he saw that she had a hand mark on her cheek along with tear stains down her cheeks, “What’s going on? What happened?” he asked in a groggy voice. 

“ _ He _ came,” she answered in a hushed voice. “He knocked you out and brought us here.”

“Who’s he?”

Before he could answer the door suddenly swung open revealing a man as he walked in. He was a bear of a man, massive and muscled, and he was the man who had enslaved Reika and made her burden the worst of the world as only a child. Sinbad’s eyes narrowed as he felt anger rise in him. That man had laid that large and boorish hands on Reika, and he was the one who had broken her. This man was the reason that she was so detached, that everytime she smiled he could see just how much shattered glass was behind her gaze, and this man had baited the trap with both Sinbad and Clara and he was going to lay those hands on Reika once again. 

Though his fury was cut off when he saw someone else come through the door, and his eyes went wide when he saw another girl come through. She saw the same height and build as Reika, save for she looked better treated than the blonde. She didn’t look starved, skinny or pale. Her brunette hair was clean and her clothes were well kept like the man’s.                             

“She’s coming, Master,” she said to him a smile crossing her face, before looking to him and Clara. “The bait is working.”

The man looked over to them, and sirked at Sinbad who was looking at him with narrowed look and a fire in his eyes, “What?” he asked in a teasing fashion. “Are you mad becuase you won’t have a shot at the little whore? We can always-”

“If you lay a hand on her again,” Sinbad growled out, baring his teeth. “I’ll-”

“You’ll what?” the man asked moving forward, crouching down in front of him, holding out Valefor’s necklace on a finger. “You’re useless without your djinns.”

He gritted his teeth as he failed to hold in a  growl, “What the fuck do you want with her anyways?” he snarled at him. 

“I want to kill her,” he replied bluntly, a smirk crossing his features. “I want to tie her up and make her watch as I skin her little sister alive. I want her to break, I want that fucking stone resolve of hers to crumble down with one single fucking blow.”

Sinbad was silent for a few moments as he stared into the older man’s eyes, seeing the absolute madness that riddled them, as he wondered how the hell someone could fall this far from basic humanity, “Why her?” he asked. “Why can't you just leave her alone?”

He chuckled, “She’s _ mine _ . I created the weapon that she is, so I get to decide when that weapon gets destroyed.”

“She’s not yours. Reika doesn’t belong to you.”

He then looked to Sinbad with an amused look, as if he were some stupid child, “You don’t even know what she is, what she really is. She isn’t a person, she’s an attack bitch, and like any rabid bitch you have to put them down. Besides I was going to kill her that day that you came for her. She was always disobedient, always a failure. Never submitting fully like a bitch should in front of their master. I wanted her to bow down completely, but she never did. No matter how many days she went without food, no matter how many times I beat her, she never gave herself completely to me,” his smirk widened as a wicked glint lit in his eyes, “I just wanted one last fuck out of her.”

“Sick fucking bastard!” Sinbad boomed, a fire like never before burning in his soul, erupting like a flaming volcano, “I’ll never that happen! You’re never going to touch her again!”

The older man just rolled his eyes before hitting him across the face, sending him onto the  ground as he curled in pain from the powerful hit as his mind wondered how many times Reika had endured this pain, how long she had lived like this, and wondering if she thought what the man was saying was true, that she was just some attack dog and nothing more. His eyes then floated to the other girl who looked away and he started to understand her strength. She could’ve given in, she could’ve become what he wanted, but she remained strong. A strong and sturdy wall built around her little sister, unwavering and uncracking. 

~

Reika stood in front of the shack her eyes narrowed as nothing except primal rage glowed in her eyes, her hands holding tightly to the dagger she had nabbed from the company as nothing but hatred burned inside her. Today would be the day, and only one party was leaving this fight alive, and she was going to do everything to ensure that it was Clara and Sinbad who walked out of this alive. 

She then let out a sharp whistle, and a few moments later the familiar brunette walked through the cloth door, her eyes narrowing on the blonde standing in front of her, and Reika’s rage only burned brighter at just the sight of her. 

“You’re early.”

“Give me Clara and Sinbad,” Reika replied in a low tone, “ _ Now _ .”

The other girl didn’t reply simply drawing the sword on her hip and setting herself in a defensive position. Reika growled to her while the other girl held her composure as she looked to the blonde. Though inside she was trembling. She had never seen the younger girl like this, had never seen the berserker side of her that allowed the blonde to tear through anyone who threatened her sister, and now that she was in the sight of her vicious amethyst gaze she was terrified. 

The tension built for a few more seconds, both waiting for the other to move, but Reika grew impatient and exploded forward with speed that the brunette had never seen from her, and when she moved her larger blade to block Reika’s her parry fell short from the surprise at how much stronger she was, and Reika’s sharp dagger managed to break through with her next attack and cut the brunette deeply across her cheek, making her stumble back before Reika lifted her leg and front kicked her in the sternum, making her fly back into the shack, and when Reika walked through she saw the brunette crash into the wall, letting out a cry of pain. 

Reika’s gaze then turned to her previous master and she bore her teeth as she growled towards him, “You fucked up,” she told him. 

She watched as he suddenly reached for Clara and the girl’s older sister snarled loudly as she threw her dagger, her precise aim causing the balde to bury into his hand and her strength making the blade go through the thick wood. The man let out a grunt of pain as he tried to pull the blade out, but failing horribly as Reika made her way towards him. 

“Look away Clara,” Reika ordered as she walked towards him, like a lioness stalking a gazelle. 

Clara did as she said, turning away and closing her eyes tightly, while Sinbad’s eyes looked to Reika wide with confusion and fear. He had never seen anyone looked so crazed and pissed the fuck off before, and it made him question if this was the dark spot he could see in her eyes before, the one that she worked to conceal. It was forcing him to question who was the real Reika, who was the one in control of the reigns. Was is it this side? The one that clearly allowed her to tear people apart without hesitation, or was it the side he had seen this morning? The one who had laughed at her little sister and who had smiled at him softly, the one who made his heart beat a little faster. 

His eyes didn’t leave her from as she exploded towards the man as she unleashed several powerful blows onto his face, giving him a bloody nose and lip, before she pulled away and locked her eyes with his own, “I’m going to kill you,” she stated. “For everything that you ever made me do. For turning me into what I am, and for laying a hand on my fucking sister.”

She then kicked him full force in crotch, making him fold forward as he let out a cry of pain, “You’re going to regret creating a monster!” she boomed at him, gripping his hair and looking into his eyes, making them go wide as her fire continued to roast him alive.

She then slammed his head back into the wall full force several times before gripping the dagger and pulling it from the one swiftly after kicking him in the gut again. She then lifted the blade, eyeing his neck as a target for the final blow, though as she did Sinbad saw movement behind her and spotted the brunette getting up with her sword. 

“Reika!” he called to her. 

She turned, and let out a choked cry as the brunette buried her sword into her abdomen, forcing it all the way through it as the pointed edge cut through her body. The blonde cire doubt in pain when the girl started to turn the blade, cutting her flash further before removing the blade, making Reika fall to her knees as she put a hand over her wound. Sinbad looked at her with furrowed brows as she clenched her teeth and stood, holding her blade out in front of her, the other applying pressure to her wound as the blonde stained her white clothes and dripped to the ground. 

“Give it up,” the other girl said. “You can't fight much longer with a wound like that.”

Reika didn’t reply as her eyes floated to her little who looked at her with tear filled eyes, a look of terror on her face, cracking her resolve. Never once had Clara ever looked at her like that, like she couldn’t win. The older girl then looked back to the brunette as she charged, this time putting Reika on the defensive, as the blonde struggled to keep up, taking cuts on her legs, arms, chest, and one on her left cheek before the girl moved in close taking advantage of Reika’s weakened state from fatigue and blood loss and kicked him into the wall, making her grunt as the wave of pain set her nerves ablaze. 

She looked back up and saw the girl holding her sword to Clara’s throat as she held the little girl by the hair. Reika growled as she stood up, ignoring her trembling muscles and fuzzy head as she looked to the girl with a determined look. 

_ Promise me, Reika.  _

“I don’t care if you kill me,” Reika growls, “but if you hurt her I’ll skin you alive.”

_ Take care of her.  _

The brunette just pressed the sword’s edge to the girl’s throat, “You’re threats are empty, Reika, just like yourself.”

Reika then braced for one last attempt, willing to sacrifice her life, but before she could move they all saw a small ball roll in under the curtain and before any of them could move smoke exploded out from the bomb covering every corner of the room, making everyone’s eyes water as they coughed violently. 

Reika then felt strong arms wrap around her and she started to flail in defense until she was dragged outside and looked up to see Hinahoho figure carrying her,carefully before setting her down on the street, removing the goggles from his eyes and the scarf from his mouth then looking down to her, his brows furrowing when he saw her wounds, especially the major one at her core. He then looked into her eyes. 

“It’s okay, now Reika, we’re here.”

She then looked back to the house and saw Vittel, Jafar and Mahado exit the shack. Jafar was carrying Clara while Vittel had one of Sinbad’s arms draped over his shoulders as he carried him out, While Mahado carried the knocked out man over his shoulder and the girl under his arm, tossing them both into the dirt street roughly, and when the girl moved to fight, Jafar’s rope dagger then wrapped around her, and trapped her as she fell back down. 

“We’ll deal with you later,” the boy said a deadly look in his eyes. 

“Reika!”

The girl looked up as her little sister rushed over, kneeling by her, scared eyes shining brightly while tears rushed down her cheeks, “It’s okay, you’re going to be okay!”

She just smiled, fulfilled and content now that her little sister was out of harm’s way and surrounded by those who could keep her safe, and as Sinbad moved above her to give her the same concerned look she blacked out and went limb against Hinahoho.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I don't why but I had a hard time writing this chapter.

“What were you thinking!?” Rurumu blared at Reika, making the younger girl wince at the volume as she laid in the bed, bandages covering her wounds, especially the one around her abdomen. “Going off on your own without telling anyone the location or having any semblance of a plan! You’re extremely lucky that Jafar, Vittel, Hinahoho and Mahado were able to find you in time before you bled out and died of absolute stupidity!”

She watched as Reika’s eyes floated away and down to the floor a defeated look on her face, making Rurumu sigh before living and sitting next to her on the bed. She then put a hand on Reika’s cheek, making the younger girl look up to her, “Besides your complete lack of judgement, what you did was extremely brave. You didn’t hesitate to come face to face with the man who had controlled and abused you for all those years to save your sister and Sinbad.”

She saw a little light enter the younger girl’s eyes as she smiled softly at the compliment that followed the lecture. Rurumu then moved her hand away, “It’ll be a while before your wounds are fully healed, but thanks to the healer magician you should be on your feet within the week. Just take this time to rest and recover, and if you need to talk about anything you don’t have to hesitate to say something, alright?”

Reika nodded and the older woman smiled, “Now, there are a few people who’ve been waiting to see you. Should I let them in?”

“Yeah.”

Rurumu then got up and moved to the door and saw Clara sitting in Sinbad’s lap, both of them looking exhausted and worn out, Jafar sitting next to them a blank look on his face. She cleared her throat and they all looked up to her with hopeful eyes. 

“She’s ready to see you all now.”

Clara immediately hopped off of Sinbad’s lap and barreled into the room, her older sister would’ve smiled if she didn't see the look of rage on the little girl’s face as she rushed over, climbed onto the bed and proceeded to smack her sister right across the face with every ounce of strength she had, making her sister just blink for a few moments, before lifting her hand to cover her reddened cheek. 

“You’re stupid!” Clara hissed at her. “Stop being stupid! You always get hurt when you’re stupid!”

The older blonde looked into her sister’s eyes and saw the love behind the rage, making her smile as she put a hand on top of her head to ruffle her hair a bit as she spoke softly, “Sorry.”

Clara then lunged forward wrapping her arms around her older sister’s shoulders, and held onto her tightly while she cried softly. Her older sister put a hand on her back and rubbed circles and after a few minutes the little girl fell asleep against her, making the older blonde just smile and nuzzle against her before kissing the side of her head. 

“I guess she was exhausted, huh?” she asked Sinbad and Jafar quietly, trying to fill the silence.

“We all are,” Jafar replied. “It was an...eventful day.”

Reika scoffed, “That’s one way to put it.”

It fell quiet and Reika looked to Sinbad, her brows furrowing when he avoided her gaze and looked to the ground. A hurt look crossed her face before she looked away as well. Moments passed as the air hung still until Sinbad looked up towards her, regret shining in his eyes. 

“I’m sorry, Reika. This was my fault, this was all my fault,” he told her. “I shouldn’t of-”

“I should be the one apologizing,” she said, cutting him off. “You’re the one who got caught up in my business.”

He was blank faced for a few moments, before a soft smile crossed his face as his playful glint came back to his eyes, “Sorry, Rei, but now that we’re friends and all, your business is going to start being mine now too.”

She looked into his eyes for a few seconds, and saw the sincerity shining in them as he reached forward for her hand. He gripped it softly, and she gripped it back a soft smile on her face, as tears started to well in her eyes, “Thanks, Sin, for everything. We wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you.”

She looked back into his gorgeous golden eyes, making his own eyes go wide as tears slipped down her cheeks as she smiled, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” she chanted to him, catching him off guard as she continued to smile through the pain as she gripped his hand a bit tighter, her hand trembling as she continued to sob, not out of pain or sorrow, but out of pure relief. It was over, all over. She would never have to worry about the man or the girl, she wouldn’t have to worry about where her next meal was coming from, or have to keep one eye open at night. 

She would finally get the chance to live. To truly live, and it was all thanks to the boy in front of her, and she couldn’t be more grateful. And when he got up and put a hand on her cheek, before pressing his soft lips to her forehead, she felt a new sensation flow through her body, making her cheeks heat up as he pulled away and whispered. 

“Get some rest, Reika. We’ll see in the morning.”

When the door closed behind him and Jafar she lifted a hand to her forehead, eyes wide in awe as she felt her heart pick up its pace just a bit as this odd euphoria flowed through her veins, making her feel light. Her brows the furrowed in confusion as her hand fell away.  _ What the hell is that? _


	8. Chapter 8

 

The week came by and went as things started to fall back to normal, Sinbad, jafar and Rurumu had been kept busy with the company, while Reika had been  _ literally _ chained to her bed by her new self-established mother for trying to sneak out several times before she was fully healed. Though now she had been released from her new bonds and given a new change of clothes. 

She walked out of her room, looking down at the outfit, and Rurumu just smiled as she looked to the young woman, knowing that girl would feel more at home now that she wasn’t wearing the basic white dress. Now she had a much for fitting blue top that was loose and flowed over her breasts, but stopped just a few inches below them, and also left her arms open to breath. On her arms she had two white strips of cloth where her shoulder met her triceps, and silver bands on her forearms. Her pants were white, held up with the dagger belt and puffed out a bit where they stopped just past her knees where they met her gladiator sandals. 

“How do you like it?” Rurumu asked, walking up to her, and adjusting the top a bit, before lifting her arm to inspect the silver bands to make sure they weren't cutting circulation. “Does everything fit?”

“Yeah, it feels fine,” she replied, “Thank you Rurumu, for everything.”

The older woman smiled softly and titled her head a bit as her head ruffled the blonde’s head a bit, causing a warm feeling to surface in Reika’s chest, “Of course, you are technically my daughter now, especially since the papers went through today.”

Reika just smiled softly and the older woman patted her head, “Now, off you go, and try to stay out of trouble.”

The blonde nodd and walked off in the opposite direction, going down the stairs and out to the company and as soon as she walked onto the floor she was swarmed by the workers, all of them rushing over to her with smiles, making the younger woman absolutely freeze as they started to blare questions at her faster than she could process. 

“How are you feeling, Miss Reika?”

“Are you alright, Miss Reika?”

“Do you need anything, Miss Reika?”

“We’re so glad you’re alright, Miss Reika!”

The blonde started to slowly back away towards the stairs, sweat starting to from on her brow from all the attention being pinned on her and the sensation reminding her of the times she was surrounded by guards with her back to a wall. Though thankfully a distinct voice cut through. 

“Alright, give the poor girl some space,” she heard Sinbad’s voice say. 

Everyone then opened up and he walked through a soft smile on his face, and she let out a sigh of relief as he walked over, though when he reached her he turned and put an arm around her, touching her bare arm. She wanted to shutter at the strange electricity coming from his fingertips, though that only made her raise her guard as her eyes sharpened a bit towards the adventurer. 

“I assure you all Reika is fine and has made a full recovery, there’s no need to worry, now please just go about your days.”

The workers nodded and went back to their tasks before sinbad turned to Reika, “Jafar’s waiting for in the courtyard. I’d hustle if I were you.”

She nodded and then ran off to the courtyard, excited to get back to her training, and as she rushed out the door-

“You’re late!”

Her eyes went wide when one of the signature red strings wrapped around her ankles as she tumbled down the stairs, making her bite the dust as she tumbled down the stone steps and into the dirt. She groaned and pushed herself up. 

“Asshole,” she muttered as he walked over and untangled his ropes from her ankles. 

“Get up, we start now,” he said to her. 

~

“Focus Reika!” Jafar snarled at her from the sidelines as she stood in front of Mahado, a bruise on her chin as she stood in front of the trained assassin panting heavily as sweat trickled down the side of her face. Her legs were trembling and the exhaustion was starting to get to her as her frustration started to hit its peak as she looked to the unscathed man in front of her. “You’re not going to beat with him with sheer strength!”

She growled in frustration and charged again, making Jafar sigh, though when he opened his eyes back up he noticed there was something different about her, like the aura around her had shifted, and the thought was justified as she seemed to move with greater speed as she weaved between Mahado’s hits, and the moment she was in close she unleashed a fury upon the larger man with increased strength. 

Jafar watched with wide eyes as she delivered quick and devastating blows to his abdomen before jumping and drop kicking him in the nose, sending him back while she fell to the ground, putting her hands back to catch herself, so she could roll back and onto her feet. 

_ Or maybe you can _ , Jafar thought eyes still a little wide as Reika went after Mahado, keeping up with him and bringing him to the ground with every combination. He then rubbed the back of his neck, perhaps he was doing this wrong, trying to teach her in the ways of the assassin. Perhaps her brawlish style was rough around the edges and too brutish for his style, but it was effective and earned results.  

“That’s enough,” he said, lifting his hand, making them both turn to him. “Thank you, Mahado.”

Reika turned to the older man and nodded to him, thanking him in her own way before he walked off. The blonde then turned to Jafar, “How was that?” she asked. 

“You were horrible,” he answered bluntly, making her face fall a bit. “That is until you adapted your own style to fight him. I’m going to admit that i’ve been going about this the wrong way, you’re style wasn't to my liking, but it's extremely effective for you. We’ll clean up your footwork, improve stamina, speed and strength then build from there, alright?”

She nodded and gave him a bright smile that he couldn't help but to return with his own, as he set his feet in front of her, and his smile turned to a smirk, “Now, let’s see how you’d do against me, Street Rat.”

Reika smirked as well and set herself, shifting her weight to the balls of her feet, her arms up defensively, “Bring it, Shortie.”

~

Later Reika winced and pulled back as Sinbad dabbed at a cut across her cheek, “Agh, careful!” she hissed. 

“Well if you would quit fidgeting it’d be helpful,” he replied and gripping her chin again and held her still as he treated the cut an annoyed look on his face. “Honestly, going toe to toe with Jafar, what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking I could win,” she replied in an equally annoyed tone. “What’s got you in a mood anyways? You’re not the one with bruises and cuts.”

He sighed, and placed a bandage on the cut with a gentler touch before backing off and cleaning up the supplies, “It’s nothing honestly.”

She raised a brow, “You don’t seem like the kind of person to get snippy for no reason,” she replied, and patted the seat next to her, brining one of her legs to her chest. “You can tell me, I won’t tell anyone.”

He sighed and walked over, plopping down rubbing a temple, “It’s honestly nothing, just the noblemen in the Merchant’s Guild, they’re trying to bump me out because I flirted with their daughters, and maybe...bedded one of them.”

She blinked at him a few times, “You fucked a noble girl?”

A blush came to his cheeks, “Don’t say it like that! It makes it sound vulgar!”

It was quiet for a few moments. 

“Did you stick it in her ass or in her cooch?”

“Ok that’s it! I’m done talking to you!” he said getting up, making Reika chuckle at his bright red face as he started to storm off. 

“Come back!” she called to him, trying to stifle her laughter.  “I was only kidding! I’m sorry!”

He stopped and sighed coming back and sitting down with folded arms. Reika then looked to him and folded her legs in front of her, sitting up a bit straighter, “Ok, I’ll try to be serious,” she said and cleared her throat. “Why did you fu-I mean sleep with her?”

He fell silent trying to think it through, remembering the details about the girl. She had been about the same size as Reika, though a bit thinner. less muscly, and she had the same blonde locks that had been curled with a heated iron and were allowed to flow around. She also had green eyes, though he remembered imagining them like they were purple when they had...moved with each other. Other than that he couldn’t remember anything in particular that had been that noticeable about her, or any of the other girls who now that he thought about it had been around the same description. 

He then shrugged in response, “She was pretty I guess, I don’t know.”

Reika sighed, and he sent her a glare, “What?”

“There wasn't a single thing?” she asked, giving him an accusing look. “Like the way she talked? How intelligent she was? Her interests? You honestly took a girl’s virginity just becuase she was kind of pretty?”

“Like I said, I don’t know, I can't remember.”

She rolled her eyes, “Oh, well, maybe you’ll come up with an answer later, but what are you going to do to fix it? Not like you can just fix it.”

“I was just thinking of paying her father a good amount of money.”

A hand then met the back of his head, and he turned to snap at her, but he saw the hostile look in her eyes, “Idiot,” she replied. 

“What?”

“How do you think it’ll make that girl feel if you just pay her father, it’ll make her feel meaningless, like she's a whore.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, “Did that happen to you?”

“What?”

“Did...Did that guy get paid so someone else could...do that to you?”

She fell silet, her legs unfolding, both of her feet pressing down to the floor. He looked back to her and saw a blank look cross her face, the memories no doubt floating around in her mind as her voice came out, soft and vulnerable, “Yeah...he did.”

His eyes narrowed, and he looked away suppressing a growl, “The more I here about the bastard the more I want to castrate him.”

“So don't be him, Sin,” she replied and then stood up, not looking back to him. Her voice still soft. “Fix this without money if you can...Just try, for me, okay?”

“Okay.”

She took a glance back to him and then walked away and out of his office. He took a few moments to think before rising and getting back to his work, needing to focus before he said something stupid. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! Here's a nice long chapter for you!

 

Sinbad turned and looked back to the shore and saw Reika standing there, just staring down to the water with a look of uncertainty as she hesitated to even step into the water. 

“You okay, Rei?” he asked her. 

She looked up to him, and he saw the slight fear radiating in her eyes, “I uh...I can’t swim.”

“Really?”

She gave him a nod of confirmation, “Yeah,” she answered and then let out a nervous laugh. “Not a lot of water in the slums, you know?”

He walked back over to her, and held his hand out to her, a soft smile on his face with that new sparkle that she had noticed recently in his eyes, “It’s okay, we won’t go too far out, okay? I’ll be right here.”

She hesitated looking to his hand, and then to the water, gulping nervously before looking back into his eyes. Their gaze held for a few moments, and Reika couldn’t help but to feel her heart pick up its pace as she looked into his gorgeous golden eyes, her cheeks heating up a bit. She started to reach out slowly, and when she gripped his hand and he gripped it back securely she felt safe, a new and pleasant sensation that she had been growing used to as he again conquered the feeling inside her, that is until he started to lead her into the water, tugging at her gently as she stepped into the ocean for the first time. 

Sinbad smiled when he saw her eyes light up as walked into the water, “What is it?” he asked. 

“It feels...good,” she replied, and looked up to him with a smile. 

“That’s becuase the ocean is special,” he replied. “It's the one thing that connects everything in the world. My father used to say that the ocean is the one thing that everyone in the world can agree upon, that it's the one great unifier of the world.”

She smiled softly to him, “That’s beautiful.”

“It is, isn't it?”

He saw that he had soothed her nerves a bit and led her further into the water, stopping when the water reached their waists. Sinbad looked to reika as saw her staring out at the sparkling water with a wondrous look, watching the others as they paddled around and laughed. A small blush came to his cheeks, she looked cute as she smiled, her eyes sparkling as her ponytail blew a bit in the breeze. She then looked up to him and smiled softly, making his heart pick up his pace. He then put his fingers on her temple lightly. They stood there staring into each other’s eyes, their hearts beating away rapidly in their chests. 

His eyes went wide when he realized what he was doing and he backed off, “Sorry, I...I don’t know what came over me.”

She blinked at him a few times, utterly confused on what had just happened. She then looked away and put a hand onto her chest to feel her heart that felt like it burst from its place in any moment as she moved the hand to her face and felt how hot it was. 

_ What the hell is wrong with me? _ She asked herself. 

Sinbad on the other hand was looking in the complete opposite direction of her as he started to feel himself sweating nervously.  _ Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.  _

Her eyes glanced back to him and she saw how nervous he looked and she pulled back a bit as well, wondering if she had somehow upset him or done something wrong. She sighed, and looked away and out to the sea were Hinahoho and Rurumu played with their baby in the water, and her eyes went wide as a memory came back to her, bringing a small smile to her face as she turned and watch Jafar and Clara play in the tidepools. 

“Thank you, Sin.”

He turned to look back to her with a raised brow, “What for?”

“Giving her a chance.”

Sin looked back to Clara and smiled as well before looking to Reika and putting a hand on her cheek again, “Anything for you, Rei.”

“Tch.”

His eyes went wide when he heard that sound leave her lips and he looked into her eyes and saw them narrowed, “You’ve been awfully handsy today, pervert.”

“What? No I-”

She then took his hand and bent his wrist backwards, making him panic in pain, “Don’t force your perverted fetish onto me, scum.”

_ Scum?  _

He looked up to her eyes and squeaked when he saw her look to him like she looked while she was fighting that man and the girl, “Keep me out of your fantasies, pervert,” she said in a low growl that made him want to cry before she let go of him and walked away with her arms folded to join Jafar and Clara. 

_ Pervert? _

~

The next few days Reika’s remarks continued over and over again, everytime he would get too close or too flirty with her, her face would go dark and she would let out a ‘tch’ before smacking him. Though now as they stood on a farm outside of the city Reika was wide eyed and extremely disturbed by the rancher standing next to her and Sinbad.

“HHHOOOOEEYY!” she called before they started to grunt and make noises that the blonde had never heard any human being make in her life, and it made her cringe and shrink back a bit before she feared the woman would turn into some sort of child-eating lizard. 

“Isn’t that cool, Rei?” Sin asked her as he watched with a smile. 

“No,” she replied, cringing as the hogs came over, wincing away from the smell of them and their pen. “Can we leave?”

“What? Can handle a little dirty work darlin’?”

Reika’s eyes sharpened on the woman, “The only dirty work here is cleaning your double ch-agh!”

She glared at Sinbad who had promptly drove an elbow into her ribs, and her just smiled, “We admire your hard work, ma’am.”

Reika rolled her eyes and folded her arms, obviously not enjoying standing in the mud and filth with Sinbad being his usual boot licking self. Though when she heard what sounded like a kitten mewling she walked away from the pigs and onto the dirt path, flicking the mud off of her feet with a sneer before continuing on to follow the sound of distress, and when she walked into a barn she smiled when she found a little  golden cub there, his small foot caught in some rope. 

She walked over, but when she reached for the caught foot the little cub that just barely reached over her knee cap swiped at her with a cute hiss. She just raised a brow and smile before holding her hand out, “Easy buddy, just trying to help you out.”

After the cub sniffed her hand for a few moments she reached behind its ear and gave him a  good scratch, smiling a bit brighter as it leaned into her hand. She then moved around it untangling it's foot before picking it up and standing, scratching behind its ear some more before chuckling as it rubbed up against her cheek, groaning in delight. 

Sh then held the cub out, “What’s your name boy?” she then glanced down. “Girl?”

The cub only squeaked at her making her smile before she cradled the cub in her arms and walked out fo the barn, and found Sinbad and the woman standing to look at the chickens, and when she walked over they turned and the girl’s eyes went wide. 

“No, Miss Reika! You mustn’t hold her, she’ll bite!”

Reika raised a brow as the cub just nibbled on her hair, “Really? She only swiped at me, she didn’t bite.”

Sinbad smiled as the cub cuddled against her, groaning and squeaking happily in her arms as the blonde gave her scratches, though when he reached forward the cubs teeth locked onto his fingers, making him yelp and pull back, making Reika burst into laughter as he cradled his now bleeding hand. 

She then kissed the cubs head, “Good, kitty.”

“I told you milord, I’m very sorry, we’ll have her euthanized immed-”

Reika stepped back, her eyes narrowing on the woman, “Forget it,” she said in a deep tone. 

“But the cub bit-”

“Who cares, women slap him every day,” Reika replied, making the boy glare at her. “I’m keeping her.”

“What?” Sinbad asked. “Why?”

“I like her, and she has good instincts if she bites perverts like you.”

Sinbad sighed and turned to the woman, “I guess we’ll be taking the cub with us, how much do we-”

“Oh no, you can keep her for free, milord, we were just going to get rid of her because no one else would buy her.”

Reika looked back to the cub and smiled, “I’ll call you Kali.”

She then put the cub down and Sinb couldn’t help but to smile as the little cub continued to rub up against her leg, though when the woman told them to continue down to the local festival, Reika sighed and followed after Sinbad and the woman, continuing to glare at him with his brown nosing nature, and when they arrived to the festival her mood worsened when she spotted him off speaking to the local girls who of course swooned around him. 

“You’re so strong, Lord Sinbad!”

“You’re so handsome, Lord Sinbad!”

“Lord Sinbad, please come this way!”

She looked on from a barrel, waving a piece of long grass around for her new friend to chase, the cub happily wiping and snatching at it, while she on the other hand had her face propped on her hand, glaring daggers at Sinbad. 

“Stupid, Sin,” she huffed before looking away. 

Though when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye, she sat up straight and smirked with the familiarity of the festival activity.

~

“Really girls, I’ve got to find Rei,” Sin said, trying to get away from the local girls really wishing he hand;t ditched his body guard since the blonde was rather good at chasing off other people. 

“Whatever, she’s so gross, hang out with us instead.”

“Eh? You know her?”

Another girl nodded, “She’s the blonde right, blue shirt with her midsection showing?”

He nodded, and the girls huffed before taking him to her, and what he saw made him freeze up entirely. There Reika was, a herd of men and women alike around her, all of them holding bills in their hands as they egged her on while she was hand-locked with a beefy looking man, both of them sweaty and growling at one another as they arm-wrestled for the money on the side of the table. 

“Kick his ass blondie!”

“C’mon Drac, quit loosin’ to a lil’ girl!”

Rei looked to the older man, and smirked at him before she cried out and slammed his hand almost in slow-mo down to the wood, flipping him out of his seat, before she stood and let out a battle cry with her whole body, howling up to the sky as those who had bet on her did the same. She then turned and took the money, before handing it off to a couple of little kids standing next to her, smiling as they ran off before she looked to Sinbad whose eyes were locked onto the man whom she had destroyed. 

The buff man who was now in the dirt crying. 

_ Holy shit, what did her mom eat when she was pregnant?  _ He asked himself internally. 

Though when Reika saw the look on his face, her face fell a little bit her brows furrowing. She then looked away, a hole forming in her gut before a hand was put on her shoulder and she was pulled into the crowd that was celebrating and praising her for being the strongest in the local area. 

“That’s her right, the brute? You really want to hang out with her?”

Sin looked back to the girl before looking back to the crowd his face falling when he spotted her talking to a local man, smiling brightly as he took her under his arm and laughing like she had with Clara all those weeks ago. 

“Guess not,” he replied softly before turning away to go back with the girls. 

~

It was safe to say that the carriage ride home had been plenty awkward, with Reika not even making eye contact as she just looked out the window, Kali fast asleep in her lap. Only giving her friend one worded answers the entire ride before moving off as quick as possible, not even giving him a courteous good night before rushing off. 

Though the next few days had been filled with nothing but bickering, Reika accusing Sinbad of being a pervert while he accused her of being brute. Their fights spanning the entire day, both of them too stubborn to not have the last word or even walk away. It was starting to drive the entire company crazy, especially when a shouting match had started in the middle of the night in Sinbad’s office. 

“Oh! Now you’ve gone too far!” Sinbad snapped standing up from his wooden desk. 

“Oh I’ve gone too far?” she snarled, her aura shifting drastically. “You’re the one who introduced one of your whores to my little sister! I’d say you crossed a line!”

“She wasn't a whore, she was a noble girl!”

Reika growled, “So what!? You fucked her, right!? Just like you fuck all of them! With regard to their humanity or their emotions you piece of shit!”

“I’m the piece o-”

They were both cut off when the door was suddenly kicked open, and both of them straightening up immediately when saw a very displeased and sleep deprived Rurumu there. 

“ENOUGH!” she boomed, not restraining herself. “I am sick of both of you! Yelling all day and all night like children!”

Both of them looked to each other before they let out a ‘hmph’ and folded their arms and looked away.

“I don’t know what is going on between you two, but you are going to figure it out, or so help me I will tie you two together and stick you into a pit for a week!” the older woman snarled before turning. “Now keep it down or next time I’ll send Jafar up here to kill you both!”

The large woman then slammed the doors closed, making them wince. 

A silent tension rose in the room, Reika determined to keep her eyes away from the purplette, while his eyes drifted towards her, a semi-hurt look on his face. He then sighed and loosened up before walking over and plopping onto his bed, looking up at the fine tapestry that hung above him. 

“I don’t like fighting with you, you know,” he replied. 

She loosened up a bit, turning towards him, but not looking at him. 

“I just wish you would tell me what happened,” he confessed. “I mean one minute we were friends, and the next you were calling me ‘scum’.”

Her arms came unfolded as she turned more towards him, her eyes looking down at the wooden floor, a defeated and tired look on her face. 

“I really miss hanging out with you, but lately it seems that you think I’m your enemy. I mean you picked a fight with me over oatmeal this morning. I just...I feel like you hate me.”

She was quiet for a few moments, “I...I don’t hate you, Sin…”

“Then what?” he asked sitting up and looking at her. “Why are you treating me like this?’

“I’m just...confused...that’s all,” she replied, looking away again, avoiding eye contact with him. 

“About what?”

She sighed, “It’s dumb, you wouldn’t get it.”

He then got up and walked over to her, his boots padding softly on the floor before standing in front of her a concerned look on his face, “Rei, what’s wrong?”

He could see the conflict in her eyes as she seemed to search the floor for the answer before she backed away from him, “I...I...I just…” she then growled in frustration. “Agh! I don’t even know! It’s so fucking dumb! Just forget it!”

She then stomped towards the door, but he caught her wrist and held her back, making her close her eyes tightly as she tried to pull away gently. 

“Let go!”

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong!” he replied, determined to be there for her. 

“Let go,” she replied, her voice a bit broken, his eyes going wide when he saw the tear streak down her cheek. “Just please...let go…”

He released her quickly, and before he could ask another question she ran out the door, and no doubt to the roof, or out to climb the tree in the courtyard to cry on her own, leaving him confused, unanswered, and filled with concern for whom he considered a close friend. 

~

Reika shut the door quickly, slipping into her room before pressing her back to the door and sliding down, her knees hovering in front of her chest, her hands covering her eyes as she tried to calm herself down, trying to stop the tears that wouldn't stop flowing. 

_ What is wrong with me? _ She asked herself as she used her arms to wipe the tears away as best she could.  _ Why do I even care?  _

She then gave up on trying to wipe them away, and she settled to just wrap tehm around her legs, tucking her head to try and curl up, to be as small as possible, in her attempt to hide away from the memory, but nothing stopped it as it replayed in her mind. 

_ A smile was on Reika’s face as she walked up to Sinbad’s office, a small gift she had spotted for him in the market in her hands. She reached forward to open the big doors, but when she heard an unfamiliar voice in the door she stopped short, her brows furrowing when the muffled words were followed by Sinbad’s.  _

_ She moved to press her ear to the door, but she was cut off when a girl her age opened the door, her gorgeous golden locks delicately curled, her makeup and powder placed carefully on her soft features, her thin and delicate body covered in gorgeous cloth. The girl was beautiful, and when she bumped into Reika she looked to the girl that was her height, with the same eyes, same hair, different aura and look.  _

_ “I’m sorry,” Reika said quietly, a nervous feeling stirring in her gut. “I didn’t think Lord Sinbad had a guest.” _

_ “Oh, it's alright,” the girl replied softly and kindly, her tone much better than the previous girls that the adventurer had interacted with. “I shouldn’t have rushed out like that.” _

_ Reika then opened up and the girl ran off, before Reika looked back to Sinbad who had a smile of pure bliss on his face, “Isn’t she gorgeous Rei, absolute perfection.” _

_ Her hand tightened on the gift that was behind her back, her hand starting to tremble, “Y-Yeah, she’s alright.” _

_ “I can't imagine a girl more perfect than her,” he continued, making her heart fall into her gut. “Can you? So soft and thin, delicate and kind, everything a woman should be, oh no offense Reika.” _

_ “N-None taken…” _

_ She felt the need to cry as he turned away, a pain like none other in her chest as she literally felt her heart compress inside her chest, suddenly struggling to breath when she spotted the hickey on his neck, and she felt struck down when she realized that she could never be with him like she had thought. Rurumu had been wrong. Jafar had been wrong. Hinahoho had been wrong.  _

_ His touches had meant nothing.  _

_ His kind and soft words meant nothing.  _

_ He had been pulling her along with his little game.  _

_ And for some reason that hurt worse than getting stabbed, as she realized that she could never, would never, have him.  _

_ Her mind, her heart, her soul had betrayed her in thinking so.  _

_ “Was there something you came up here for?” he asked, turning to look at her, completely unaware of how far she was falling.  _

_ “N-No,” she replied, holding onto the gift tightly. “It’s nothing.” _

_ It hadn't been nothing, she had spent all morning looking for something that he would like so she could see his smile and watch his eyes sparkle. She had picked out a bracelet from his home country of Parthevia to confess her love with, she had spent an hour discussing the significance of every jewel, the value of the vines that had been carve onto it, knowing that Sinbad was all about the value or meaning of items.  _

_ She had picked it out for him.  _

_ And as she turned away and looked down at the bracelet she felt her heart crack.  _

“He can never love you,” she repeated to herself as she held her knees closer to her chest, but after she let out a choked sob she felt something rub up against her, and she looked up to see her little cub there, looking up to her and whining softly. 

She smiled and picked the cub up, setting Kali in her lap and kissing the top of her head, “I’m okay, Kali...I’ll be okay…”

The cub only rubbed up against her, purring softly as she tried to comfort her loving owner, in equal distress that she was crying. 

“I’ll be okay…I just have to accept that he;s not for me...He could never love someone like me,” she then laughed and wiped her tears. “I should've known...he only like soft girls, not me.”

~

Sinbad collapsed back onto his bed, his eyes staring up blanky at the expensive tapestry that now made him sick as he rolled onto his side, not able to get the sight of Reika’s panicked and teary eyes look out of his head. 

He wanted to see her smile. 

To see her laugh like she did with her sister and with Jafar. 

He wanted to cause that laugh. 

He wanted to see her eyes sparkle. 

But she didn’t want him, and that drove him fucking insane. He could have any girl he wanted, any woman he wanted with just a few well placed words, but he couldn't have her. He would never get to tuck her bangs behind her cute ears, never get to kiss her little nose, never get to watch her sleep next to him. She wasn’t his to have. 

She would  _ never _ be his to have and to hold. 

And he hated that more than anything. 

So he turned to those girls, trying to fill the void that Reika had left in him. Every moment spent with her look-alikes he had to focus to not say her name aloud to them. Not to whisper her name into their ears when he lied with them, not to make that fatal mistake, because he knew that if he said her name aloud…

It would just be an admittance to how desperate and fucking insane he was about her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any suggestions or requests you can leave a comment, email me at halo.girl.0243@gmail.com or you can follow my twitter account @243_halo!
> 
> I'll try to update a lot this week since I have it off from school!


	10. Chapter 10

Reika looked ahead, standing at the front of the ship as they sailed into the valley of Atremyra, her eyes searching the walls and the skies for any movement, knowing that her country was known for its guerilla warfare and surprise attacks from above. 

“Relax Reika,” Jafar said as he walked up to her from behind. “The Artemyran Queen knows we’re coming.”

She sighed and unfolded her arms, “I know, I’m just...high-strung that’s all.”

He smiled up at her and touched her arm gently, “I know, it must be hard for you to be this confined to him for this long, especially if you two aren’t talking at the moment.”

“At the moment?” she asked and scoffed. “He hasn't given me more than a three worded reply in a month...but I guess I haven’t either.”

Jafar then pulled away and looked forward with her, “I’m sorry for all of this, it's partially my fault. I never should of encouraged your feelings or interpreted his actions for him. I should've known it was just him being his usual self.”

“It’s fine,” she replied softly, her eyes floating down to the deck. “He’s hard to read.”

He sighed and put his hand back on her arm, “I know it’s hard, but perhaps you should apologize for your recent behavior? Try to be friends once again.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Becuase I think you’d rather be at his side as a friend rather than lose him forever.”

Her eyes floated up to the sky, watching the thin and wispy clouds as they rolled across the sky before she closed them for a few moments taking a deep breath before opening her eyes a small smile crossing her features when she remembered the week she had been bed ridden, how Sinbad had visited her everyday, brining a game, something for her to read with him, or just to chat, it was one of the many happy memories she had with him and she knew she would cherish the memory of her first real friend for the rest of her life, and she also knew it didn’t have to be a memory. 

“You’re right,” she replied looking down to him. “I should just drop it.”

She then turned to go find Sinbad who stood next to Mystras, but before she took a step forward a shadow was cast over them and immediately Reika reached for her blades as the bird swooped down, but when she saw two blonde girls riding the beast, with eyes the exact shade of hers she froze a bit and watched as they rushed back into the air, making her bring an arm up to shield her face from the whipping wind of the bird’s large wingspan, though when they swooped back around they flew alongside the ship. 

“Hey there!” one of the girls waved as Reika walked over. 

“Beautiful women!” Mystras said his eyes sparkling, making Reika let out a ‘tch’, making the boy jump a bit when he looked at her, her eyes narrowed with her arms folded, making him back away a little bit from her scowl. 

She watched the interaction silently per usual, but when Sinbad flashed the girls ‘the look’ and dipped into that tone it felt like a arrow hit her side, making her brow twitch as her aura darkened.  

“Take it easy, Rei,” Hinahoho said as he put a hand on her shoulder a nervous smile on his face. 

Sinbad then turned to look back at her, and he jumped a bit as well when he saw her intense gaze fixated on him, and when she opened her mouth and snapped at the air his face blued as he slid away from her. 

“That fucking moron,” Jafar growled, putting a hand to his forehead, about ready to give up on repairing the relationship between the brawler and his djinn capturer,  _ especially  _ after Sinbad himself had asked him to speak with her. 

~

Jafar looked to Reika who walked next to him, unaffected by the climb becuase of her stamina, and he saw the far away look in her eyes as she starred forward, the sound of Sinbad’s whining in the background and he watched as she stopped turned around and walked right over to him looking down at him. 

He though she was going to hit him or tell him to quiet whining, but she just crouched down, looped her arm under his leg and use the other behind his back before she picked him up, turned and continued to walk, the far away look in her eyes remaining, while Sinbad starred up at her face absolutely red. 

“R-R-Rei, what? Why are you-”

“I couldn’t think with you whining like a child,” she replied, her snark lacking it's usual bite. 

He hesitated to reply, but he did anyways, “What...What are you thinking about?”

“My mom.”

His brows furrowed. This would mark the first time she ever brought up her mother to him. 

“She was born in Artemyra, and left to marry my father had have me,” she continued. “I wonder...if I have any family here. My mom mentioned sisters, but I doubt any of them know she’s dead or that...that I exist.”

He was quiet for a few moments as he looked down, wanting to ask a million questions since he had often wondered about the person who had given birth to someone as amazing and strong as Reika. He wondered if she was as strong and kind as she was. Wodnered if she had the same blonde hair and gorgeous eyes. Wanted to know if she was freakishly strong as well. 

He would’ve loved to speak with her, especially about Rei. 

“What...what was she like? Your mom?” he asked softly, treading carefully knowing that Reika was a private person by nature. 

Her eyes drifted down to the path before she looked up to the horizon where the sun was setting, “She was...kind.”

She smiled softly as the memory of her mother came back to her, closing her eyes as the memory of her mother braiding her hair while her father told her one of his stories played in her mind. She could remember her bright and kind smile, the eyes that were always soft and full of love, her voice that was like a thousand angels singing at once, and her presence that felt like home. She was her mother, the woman who was half the reason she was alive, and even though she had died long ago Reika still loved her more than anything. 

“I miss her,” she said honestly. “I just wish Clara would've gotten to meet her.”

“I wish I could’ve met her too,” he replied, smiling softly. “The woman who created you must of been amazing.”

She looked into his eyes and smiled back, “I’m sure your mom was amazing too.”

“She was,” he replied a sad look crossing his face. “I regret leaving her before she died.”

Her brows furrowed as she listened. 

“When I went to capture the djinn, I was in the dungeon for three months,” he explained. “If I had known that she…that those would’ve been her last I...I would've stayed with her.”

“You didn’t know,” she replied softly. “You couldn’t of.”

He smiled softly, looking up to her, “Thank you, Rei.”

Jafar, Hinahoho and Mystras were walking behind watching the two talk as Reika carried them up the mountain, Jafar and Hinahoho smiling softly as they watched while Mystras’s brows furrowed since he had been left out of the loop for most of their relationship, but he could definitely feel something radiating off of their combined presence as he walked behind them. 

“Their finally talking to each other again,” Jafar said softly. 

“Again?” Mystras asked. 

“Yes, the two stopped talking becuase they can’t confess to one another,” Hinahoho replied. 

“Confess what?”

“You’ll figure it out soon enough,” Jafar replied. “It took that Yunan character about two seconds.”

_ “My, who is this Sinbad?” the stranger had asked when his eyes landed on Reika.  _

_ “Uh, this is Reika, she’s my bodyguard.” _

_ The stranger approached her, leaving his staff to lean against his shoulder while he took one of Reika’s hands, wrapping hers in his own as he smiled softly to her, “So you’re the one who has his rukh confused, huh?” he asked softly. “It’s an honor to meet you.” _

_ “Uh, it’s an honor to meet you too, Yunan.” _

_ He just smiled at her for a few moments his mid whirling away before he pulled back, “Take care of him for me, Rei? Alright?” _

Jafar continued to watch them as they walked and talked and eventually Reika set him down and he walked by her side, both of them quiet and content as they continued, and jafar relished in the opportunity to see both of his closest friends happy, and shamelessly praying that they would both get over their doubts and fears concerning the other and just face their emotions. 

But he knew it wouldn’t be that easy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if that was a little much, you can post a comment or email me a halo.girl.0243@gmail.com to let me know! Thank you!


	11. Chapter 11

 

“Come on, let’s just go to the valley to bathe,” Jafar said, snagging Reika’s wrist and dragging her away and towards the stairs that led to the valley, while Reika stared up and watched the giant birds glide across the sky. 

Though when they got to the valley she looked down to the water with a soft smile, happy to get the muck, dust and sweat off of her skin and she reached for her shirt with one before a a hand locked around it, “No,” Jafar snipped. 

“What, I’m just-”

The boy then pointed to where he had set up a privacy sheet with his rope darts for her, “Please, Rei, over there please. You’re a woman remember?”

She just shrugged and he groaned before gesturing to Mystras and Sinbad who eyes her shamelessly from across the way, waiting for her to take her clothing off. Her cheeks then lit up red and she nodded before moving over to the privacy sheet to bathe and wash up, much to Sinbad and Mystras’s dismay. 

Though as the boys bathe the two young men couldn’t see to get over the fact that the blonde was most likely naked, or at least half naked behind the sheet, and Sinbad definitely couldn't shake it. He had been imagining what her figure would look like without her clothing for months, wondering if her long and toned legs would radiate in the sun, what her shoulders and back would like as they flexed and contorted, and it was  _ very  _ distracting especially as Jafar tried to go through the play by play of their meeting with the Queen. 

“...And finally we’ll-Sin are you even paying attention?”

The young man’s head whipped around his cheeks a bright red, “Uh, yes, of course I was just uh admiring the scenery.”

Hinahoho gave him a sly smirk, “You were thinking about Reika, weren’t you?”

“No! I-I would never!”

“Uh-huh,” the older man replied. “You just happened to glance in her direction?”

Sinbad turned away his face and neck radiating with heat as he just tried to focus on getting himself clean, pushing Reika out of his thoughts. 

Though later when he was getting dressed, and the others had already made their way back up he heard her call for him. 

“Sin, could...could you grab my towel? I uh...left it over there.”

He looked down to the pebbled bank and spotted her white towel there, folded on a rock. He moved hesitantly his heart picking up it's pace as he walked over to where she was, her naked body hidden by the sheet, but he controlled himself enough to put his back to the sheet, spotting her discarded clothing and her spare outfit nearby, and when he held the towel out he could hear his heart beating in his ears when her hand that was still wet touched his ever so slightly, and as he waited there, listening to her drying her body off he couldn't keep the lewd thoughts out of his mind, and when she walked out from behind the sheet only wrapped in her towel his eyes were wide and glued to her. 

He could see her exposed legs, that were strong and toned as she walked. 

Her hair that was still wet and flowed below her shoulders, going nearly halfway down her back. 

Her strong shoulders. 

Her toned arms. 

Her gorgeous neck. 

He could see everything. 

And he knew instantly that she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“Uh, Sin?”

His eyes then met her and he noticed how red her cheeks and ears were as she looked to him, “Um, could you turn around so I can change?’

His face then lit up as well and he coughed nervously before turning, “I’m sorry, I just…”

“It’s fine,” she replied and then chuckled. “Boys will be boys I guess. Though I’m surprised that you even considered staring at me.”

“Wh-Why’s that?”

“I just thought you liked the pretty noble girls, that’s all.”

_ You’re beautiful,  _ he replied in his mind.  _ More than you know. _

~

“How strange, you have a daughter of Atremyra with you,” the Queen said. 

Reika’s eyes went wide as she looked up, and met eyes with the Queen, who merely smiled at her, her head leaning on her hand as the younger girl’s eyes met hers, “You weren't born here were you, tell me, was your mother perhaps named Akira?”

Reika nodded slowly and hesitantly and the Queen’s eyes softened along with her smile, “You have an incredible likeness to my older sister, her ears and nose in particular,” she explained before a sad look crossed her face, making Reika’s brows furrow. “Tell me, wha haven't I heard from her in so long?”

“My mother...she...she passed a long time ago, nearly eleven years ago,” Reika explained. “She died from an infection after she gave birth to my younger sister, Clara.”

Her face saddened further, “Oh, I am very sorry,” her gaze then turned to the others and they were startled by how they sharpened, the similarities between her and her niece’s gaze making a chill run down sinbad’s spine as he received the brunt end of the cold look. “The rest of you, leave this country, I have no intention of doing business with men.”

“But your highness-”

“You heard me,” she growled. “The only person I wish to speak with is Reika.”

Sinbad then got up and a nervous feeling washed over Reika as he approached the Queen, and she got up and watched as he moved towards her taking her hand, his tone dipping down. 

Everyone watched the Queen’s reaction and when she pushed him back and pointed her spear towards him, Reika moved drawing her daggers, but before she could get to him a guard move din front of her, but Reika moved forward, knocking the spear away with her dagger before kicking her in the gut and moving around her to pull her hair back and put a dagger to her neck, turning to lock her eyes with the Queen as more guards moved in surrounding the others and herself.

“Let us go,” Reika growled, pressing the balde to the girls throat, drawing a bit of blood. “Or she dies.”

“Go ahead,” the Queen replied. “But your friends will be dead before you can reach them.”

Reika growled and looked to the others, and then pushed the girl forward and out of her grip and dropped her daggers afterwards, her eyes narrowing on the Queen who smirked smugly at her before she moved to take Sinbad’s djinn away. 

“We don’t know what the other men are hiding,” she said. “So strip them down!”

Reika growled, and the guards then seized her and pushed her down to her knees, chaining her wrists behind her back, keeping her clothes on while Mystras, Jafar and Sinbad were all stripped down and taken outside to a cliff, Reika being held down by two women behind her and two in front who pointed their spears down at her, ready to kill her if she made a wrong move. 

And when they pushed them towards the cliff Reika’s eyes locked with Sinbad’s and when he saw that she was ready to move he gave her a negative nod, mouthing the word ‘water’ to her making her brows furrow while he gestured towards Hinahoho who was tied up and then to the Queen who wore his djinn, and when she looked back to him her eyes went wide when the girls shoved him off the cliff. 

“Sin!” she called out, moving to rise, only to be shoved back down. 

Her eyes then snapped to the Queen, her gaze filled with rage as the two girls struggled to hold her down, battling her powerful and strong body and the rage that only made her stronger. 

“Take her away,” the Queen replied. “We’ll find a use for this male sympathizer later.”

The four women then took her away taking her to the cells on the outskirts of the city, and when the two girls with spears turned away to open the cell doors Reika moved kicking on of the girls away before jumping up and ticking her knees so she could being her hands forward before moving and wrapping the chain around the other girl’s neck, holding the chain and choking her slightly. 

“Put your spears down! Now!” she demanded, making the women look to her before nodding and putting their spears down and kicking them away. “Give me my daggers and unlock the chain!”

One of the women then put the dagger belt down and slid it over, while the other moved over to unlock the chains and when she did Reika used her powerful legs to kick her back before slamming the girl’s head down, and charging the other, dodging her punch and landing her own that made the woman’s head hit the stone wall knocking her out as well. 

She then walked over to her dagger belt, picking it up and strapping it back on before looking back to the castle, her eyes narrowing before she moved using the skills she had acquired over the years and the training from Jafar to evade any guards and make it back to the castle unseen.

~

“Everything alright milady?” a woman asked the Queen. 

The Queen signed, “The girl, Reika, she is my niece, a daughter of Artemyra, yet she protected the men and even threatened her own kind for them.”

“Damn right.”

The queen then looked up and when she spotted Reika there she reached for her staff, only to have Reika knock it away by throwing her dagger at it, before she charged at the Queen, sliding up the woman who charge and sending her to to the ground before she kicked the Queen back into her throne and held her there with a hand wrapped around her throat and a blade hovering above her eye. 

The Queen let out a hmph as she smirked, “You’re strong, just like your mother.”

“Shut up!” Reika growled, “I’m going to kill you, and then I’m going to go get my friends.”

“You know if you kill me you’ll never make it to them, besides how do you plan to get them out of the valley once you get down there, there’s no way out of that pit.”

Reika’s gaze faltered and she growled. 

“I can help you, that is if you help me.”

“What do you want?” Reika growled. 

“For starters you could get off.”

The younger girl hesitated before she pulled away watching the Queen’s left hand and making sure she didn't try for her staff, but the Queen just stood and walked past her and over to the woman Reika had tripped, helping her up before looking to her. 

“Talea, have a room, a bath and a meal prepared for my niece while we speak,” she said in a calm voice. 

“But milady-”

“It’s alright, my niece is a smart young woman, she wouldn’t do anything that could hurt her friends, isn't the right Reika?”

She didn't reply, making the Queen smile before she waved her over, “Come, there’s much we need to discuss. I believe I deserve that much after you harm my guards and charge into my throne room.”

She hesitated but followed after the Queen, walking behind her surprised the woman would turn her back on her as they continued to walk, and when they came to a pavilion she turned and opened up for Reika to sit down on the bench with a smile. She hesitated but moved sitting down stiffly on the soft pillows before the Queen sat across from her. 

“Tell me, how useless was your father?” the Queen asked. 

Reika growled, “My father was  _ not _ useless.”

“Yet your other lies dead and you’re here with a party of strange young men, is he sick, ill, daft?”

“He’s dead.”

The Queen then looked away letting out a hmm, “How long have you and your sister been orphans?”

“Eleven years.”

“Did you know that you had family here?”

“No.”

The Queen then looked back to her staring deeply into her eyes, and she was surprised to see a wounded little girl behind the strong young woman. A scarred heart behind an iron wall. Her eyes sharpened at the thought of anyone harming her people, especially her elder sister’s child. 

“What happened after your mother died? Were you left on the street?”

Reika visibly tensed up, her stern gaze faltering for a moment, “No, we were...taken in.”

“By who?”

“A man...he...was cruel.”

The Queen nodded looking away, so this man was the one who had scarred her. She then let out a ‘tch’ her seeming hatred for the brutish and violent nature of man expanding greatly. She wouldn't ask her niece to relive the experiences by explaining them to her, she could feel the pain flowing off of the younger girl. The queen simply rose to her feet, “Come, I’ll take you to your room, you should rest, bathe and eat well. The task I will have for you tomorrow will require every once of endurance you have.”

“What is it?” Reika asked. 

The Queen turned, “Another dungeon has appeared on my land, if you capture it and make it back alive I will grant your friends and Lord Sinbad’s freedom, and I will go into business with the Sindria Trading Company, but if you fail to make it back alive then your friends will die in the valley and I will cease claim over your sister Clara.”

Reika’s eyes narrowed and she growled at the mention of her sister before she stood up and nodded, “Fine, I’ll do it, but if you don’t hold up your end, I’ll kill you and burn this fucking country to the ground, understand?”

The Queen smirked and nodded, “Of course.”

“One more thing,” Reika replied before she held her palm out. “Necklace.”

“What?”

“Sin’s necklace, give it to me. Now.”

The Queen nodded and slipped it off and handed it back to her niece, who took it gently and slipped it on over her head, gripping the jewel protectively and the Queen immediately burst into laughter catching the younger girl off guard. 

“Don’t tell me you have actual feelings for the fool!” she exclaimed through her laughter making Reika stiffen up as her cheeks went red her aunt continually to cackle in front of her. “Falling for a man like him! Now I know for a fact that you are your mother’s child! She swooned over the same type of man when Reim sent their envoy!”

“I-It’s not like that!” Reika replied, her ears reddening as well. “We’re just friends!”

“Even worse!” she cackled almost folding in half as she laughed at her. 

Reika sent her a glare, before walking off, “Forget it! I’ll find the room on my own!” she then stomped off a pout on her face. 


	12. Chapter 12

 

Reika walked into the throne room, her pack packed lightly with supplies, food, water and bandages, a determined look on her face as she prepared her mind to face the dungeon and the horrors she would face inside, Sinbad’s necklace safely around her neck. 

“Ah, good morning Reika,” the Queen said as she opened up to reveal a young man there, only a year or two older than her niece. “This is Kassio, he’s volunteered to enter the dungeon with you.”

She looked to the young man and saw that he wore a rogue like outfit, his brown pants flowing up with a belt blades in their holders that were double strapped and secured to his thighs, and a black top that was loose and lacked sleeves like her own shirt. He was a blonde with bangs that hung down just past his eyebrows, flowing over a read headband and secured hair that hung low, going just past his shoulder blades. 

When her eyes met his she could seen the sternness is his grey eyes, the focus that she shared with him. She looked back to the Queen unamused as she folded her arms, “I don’t need help.”

The Queen’s eyes narrowed, “Do you want your friends back, or not? A djinn’s dungeon is no game and it's not worth dying for the sake of your pride. Take him.”

“I thought you hated men,” Reika retorted. 

“I do, but this one has proven himself at least somewhat competent.”

The girl huffed, “Fine, but if he slows me down I’ll kill him.”

Kassio chuckled and smirked but said nothing as she walked away. He then turned to the Queen. 

“Take care of her,” she said softly. “I’m trusting you on this, Kassio.”

He bowed to her, “I will, milady.”

~

Reika growled as she pulled her knife out of a creature and kicked it off the cliff, agitation clear on her face, “This is nothing like Sinbad’s fucking stories,” she then flicked the black blood off of her knife before sheathing it and turning to watch Kassio do that same, the slain creature on the ground at his feet. He then turned and Reika’s eyes met his and she held his gaze for a moment. She just let out a hmph and looked away continuing along the rocky path. 

“And I thought I was quiet,” he muttered and continued after her. 

He watched as she approached the rock wall and started to climb it, her strong arms and back visibly flexing as she did, catching his attention as he started to climb after her, trying to focus as her powerful body continued to scale the rock wall, though he was cut off when a vine suddenly came around and swung at them. He drew his saber and slashed the animated vine away before more started to flow up from the base. 

“That’s perfect,” Reika huffed from above him as she continued to climb, both of them fighting off the animated vines as they scaled the rock wall, but when Kassio saw Reika slash at one vine while another laced around her ankle his eyes went wide. 

“Reika!”

She looked down to him, and her own eyes went wide before she was suddenly tugged down and put into a free fall, but Kassio was quick, burying his saber into the stone before reaching out to snag her wrist, catching her with a grunt before he pulled her back up against the wall, waiting until she cut the vine and was secure on the wall before letting her go completely. 

“You alright?” he asked. 

“Yes,” she replied. “Thank you.”

He nodded and they continued up the wall, making it to the top, covered in scrapes, scratches, and green vine goo, and when Reika spotted a sizeable cut on Kassio’s forearm her brows furrowed, “How’s that wound?” she asked. 

“It’s fine,” he replied. “Let’s keep going.”

They both froze when heard the cry of creatures further down in the dungeon and she huffed before gesturing over, “Let me dress it, we should try to take care of it while we can. Come here.”

He did as she said waiting patiently as she knelt down and pulled off her pack, pulling out water and bandages, handing him the water so he could drink while she wiped the blood off of his wound with a spare cloth, and when he handed the water back she dosed the wound and wiped away the dirt from the cut. 

His eyes watched her carefully as she dressed his wound, watching her focused eyes with curiosity. Not many women had tried to take care of him, he was a man, an abandoned one at that. In Artemyra no one paid attention to him and few knew his name beside the Queen who had been gracious enough to take him in and have him trained, though he knew she still barely acknowledged him as a warrior, but here was Reika. An outsider dressing his wound with care and insisting that he be taken care of and healthy. 

“How’s the pain?” she asked as she backed away. 

“It’s nothing,” he replied softly pausing when her purple eyes met his own. “Thank you.”

She nodded slowly and started to repack everything, “Of course,” she replied. “We are kinsman after all.”

He chuckled, “You truly don't know anything of your own people, do you?”

She raised a brow as she stood, “Why do you ask?”

“Becuase, if you were truly a daughter of Artemyra you wouldn’t even be talking to me, let alone dressing my wound.”

She signed and nodded, “I know, it's disappointing if anything,” she replied. “When Rurumu told me of my country I thought it would be a land of equality.”

“Most assume that, but it's just as bad here as anywhere else. I’m barely accepted among my people, both male and female. It’s unheard of for a man to be a warrior in our country. They don't even let me fly the birds.”

She looked away for a few moments in thought, before she looked back to him and gave him a soft smile, “If we make it out of here, you should come with us,” she replied. “Come with us back to Reim, you can see what it’s like outside of Artemyra.”

He looked back to her and saw the light that was in her eyes, and how she seemed to radiate warmth with just her warm smile, making him feel safe in her presence as he smiled softly back to her, “I might take you up on that,” he replied. “Now come on, we have a dungeon to capture.”

She nodded and they continued on. 

~

Reika walked through the doors suspiciously, Kassio following after her, both of them covered in black blood, green goo and their own blood, bruises and cuts littering their bodies, exhaustion clear on their faces and their muscles trembling. 

“Did we finally make it?” Kassio asked as he looked around, seeing the stone plates and mimicked jewels. 

“I think so,” she replied. “This is the treasury room.”

They continued forward, but when a large figure suddenly appeared in the room they turned and drew their weapons, tensing when the black smoke clouded their vision as cackling insured inside the room, but when they saw the djinn there they loosened up a bit as her from floated there. 

Her black hair floated freely around her, moving almost like it were underwater, the skirt that showed her long legs did the same while her arms hung loosely at her sides, tattoos rolling over her arms and up her shoulders and neck, but not touching her cheeks. Her clothes were black like her hair, the band around her breasts topped with a black jewel, while gold bands covered her wrists and ankles, along with the band that held up her skirt. The djinn’s most striking feature were her eyes that stopped Reika cold in her tracks. Her pupils were a bright red that was surrounded by black and the wicked smile she wore only added to her eery aura. 

“I am Lilakak,” she spoked. “Djinn of Fear and Insanity. Who wishes to be King?”

The brawler stepped forward a stern look on her face, “I wish to be King.”

The djinn cocked her head at her, “Hmm, another woman, I wonder if she’ll actually pass my test.”

“Reika passed your trails djinn,” Kassio snapped. “What more could you want.”

She laughed darkly sending a chill down both of their spines, “I want someone strong,” she replied. “Someone who uses fear instead of running from it. I want a master, not just some twit. So, Reika? What will it be, do you accept? My little test?”

Reika looked back to Kassio before stepping forward and nodding, “I accept.”

Liliakak smirked and then leaned forward, pressing a finger to Reika’s forehead, making the blonde’s entire world go dark.

~

When Reika opened her eyes she found herself in a dark void, and her eyes darted around as her senses were put on high already, but when a sudden copy of herself appeared in front of her she loosened a bit, her eyes narrowing, “What is this Lilakak?”

Her copied self moved forward, a twisted smile crossing her features, her eyes glowing red as she approached. Reaching forward when she was close enough to run her hands along Reika’s midsection slowly, chuckling as she did. 

“You are strong of body, that’s for sure,” she said before moving behind her, dragging her hands along her skin delicately.

“Hmm,” Lilakak said as she wrapped her arms around hers midsection before resting her chin on her shoulder, her copied face watching the blonde’s face with her red glowing eyes. “I wonder, just how fucked up you really are. How tainted and evil you truly can be.”

Her hand then moved to settle around Reika’s throat as she kissed behind her ear, before nibbling on the earlobe, “Tell me Rei,” she whispered into her ear. “Who could you kill?”

“What do you mean?” Reika replied, her guard up. 

“Well, it's boring to ask people who they would kill becuase that’s always circumstantial. So I want to know who you could look in the eyes and run a dagger through in cold blood.”

Her hands then moved down her body delicately and to her hands, lacing her fingers through them and then holding them up, “I know a killer’s hands when I see them, Rei, you can't lie to me. Besides I can see all your memories, all fo the things to did to those people. All of the things you did to that poor little Patrina.”

Reika’s eyes went wide as one of Lilakak’s ars wrapped around her midsection, the other going to lightly grip her throat again, a malicious smirk crossing the djinn’s copied face, her eyes glowing an even fiercer red while the rest of her eyes went black, as the image of the girl appeared in front of Reika. 

“Don’t you remember her? Or did you lock here away in your memory?”

Reika started to tremble as memories played in her mind, tears coming to her eyes as she remembered the horrors she had committed to the girl and how she had sworn secrecy to it, knowing that no one could forgive her if they knew about what she had done to the girl. 

“You  _ raped  _ her, Rei,” the djinn whispered, her hand tightening around her throat. 

Her trembling worsened as the image of the girl was distorted her clothes ripped from her by a dark hand, while she was pushed to the ground, a black hand wrapping around her throat as he legs were forcefully spread. 

“You wanted her to feel your pain? Didn’t you?”

Reika watched as the back hand scratched at her breasts forcefully, as a hand was shoved into her, making her cry out in pain. 

“You wanted someone to stop you, didn't you? That’s why you didn't gag her like he did to you. You thought that if someone would come to save her, someone would come to save you too, right?”

Reika watched as the hands continued to rape the girl, her screams and cries for help unanswered as the black hand inflicted pain onto her, before a knife was shoved into the torn hole. The hand twisting the blade as the girl shrieked and tried to get away from it. 

Lilakak’s hand then moved away from her throat to hug Reika lovingly as the tears flowed down her cheeks as she looked at her biggest regret unfold in front of her. 

“It’s alright, Rei,” she cooed into her ear. “You were different then, weren't you?”

“ _ Just a mad dog _ .”

Her eyes went wide when she heard the male voice, and she immediately tried to get away, only to be shoved to the ground, a hand around her neck while the other plamed her rear, gripping it forcefully, his hands feeling like hot iron against her skin as he let out a chuckle, “It’s firmer now, huh?” he asked, her eyes wide in absolute terror when she felt him press his crotch up against her. 

She tried to get away, but his grip was too tight as he held her down, and when he ripped her bottoms off she cried out for help, only to be turned around onto her back and have his disgusting fingers shoved into her mouth, and when she saw the face her eyes went even wider. 

“Don’t worry, Rei,” he cooed. “It’ll be alright.”

_ Sin.  _

His hands then slipped out of her mouth and he caressed her cheek softly before moving to press his lips to hers. Her arms wrapped immediately around him when he pulled away, making him laugh lightly as he held her back, his hand moving to loosen her hair and run his fingers over her scalp softly while he kissed her neck gently, taking the pain away with every gentle peck, and when his hand gripped at her breasts and she let out a gasp her eyes went wide again when she heard him laugh lowly. 

“You really are just a whore, aren’t you?”

He then shoved her down onto the ground before he stood, and she could see the red gleam in his eyes. 

“You fear that gleam in his eyes, don't you?” Lilakak asked appearing behind him, moving to wrap a hand around his throat. “You’ve sensed his ambition, his staggering confidence, and while you admire it. You fear it. You fear what he could become.”

The scenery then shifted as Reika stood and she found herself standing on dirt, the city of Reim burning around her as people screamed, her hands soaked in blood that ran through the streets, and she turned to see Sinbad behind her sitting on throne comprised of bloodied bone and flesh, a goblet in his hand as he smirked and watched the destruction, swirling the wine casually before he looked to her, holding his hand out to her. 

“Come here, Reika.”

She moved forward hesitantly and took his hand and he pulled her towards him, sitting her in his lap, his mouth going to her neck making her gasp out as his tongue darted across her skin while his free hand moved to grip her breast. 

“And you fear that you will still love him, don't you? That you will be powerless against him, like a mutt to their master?” 

The scene changed once again and Reika’s eyes then went wide when she saw her holding a knife that was buried into Sinbad, his eyes wide in fear, tears streaming down her cheek. She released the knife and she watched as he fell and watched the life force slip from his body and she turned to see the bodies of her dead friends, Rurumu, Jafar, Hinahoho and even Clara all lying there, stab wounds in their abdomens. 

“And above all that you fear yourself,” Lilakak then closed her eyes in visible thought for a moment. “I am satisfied.”

The vision then ended and Reika found herself in the treasury room, and Kassio moved forward when the black faded from her eyes and caught her as she stumbled forward a bit. She then looked back to him and she gave him a firm nod and she steadied herself before he backed off. 

Her eyes then looked back up to Lilakak who smirked down at her, “I have seen enough to know that you are strong, Reika. You have conquered this dungeon and have earned the right to hold my power as my mistress.”

The eight pointed star than appeared on Reika’s right cuff the symbol glowing a blue before a light flashed in front of their eyes, and her and Kassio found themselves standing in a blank plot where the dungeon’s entrance had been, treasure and jewels littered around them. 

“That was...anticlimactic,” Kassio remarked. 

“For you,” Reika retorted and brought a hand to her temple. “I don’t look forward to capturing another djinn if they probe the mind like that.”

The young man then reached out, setting a firm hand on her shoulder and giving her a reassuring smile, “You can seek refuge with me, if you wish my friend.”

She smiled back and nodded, “Thanks, for everything.”

He nodded, “You’re a capable warrior, perhaps I’ll take you up on your offer, and travel with you and Lord Sinbad. That is, if you’ll still have me.”

“We’d be lucky to have you with us, Kassio.”

He could feel the warm feeling settle back into his chest and gut as he looked into her calming eyes, feeling lucky once again that the Queen had allowed him to venture into the dungeon with her. She had turned him around and now had given him a chance to venture outside of his homeland to see what waited beyond the valley of women. 

Reika then turned and looked up to the sky, and inhaled the fresh air as it flowed through his hair, making it flutter a bit along with her shirt. She then closed her eyes and repeated the promise to herself once again. Before opening the and looking up to the night sky. 


	13. Chapter 13

The Queen’s eyes watched the clouds, worry clearly in them. It had been three weeks since Reika and Kassio entered the dungeon. She feared the worst, but knew that dungeons could be distorted, what feels like a day or two turns into a month or even two. What she feared most is what Reika would do if she hesitated to pull Sinbad and his male companions from the pit before they died of exposure. 

Though her thoughts were cut off when the door to the throne room was thrown open, and a smile came to her face when she them walk through side by side, both of them looking exhausted, beat up and injured. Though an aura of satisfaction surrounded them both, and when they neared the Queen saw the eight pointed star awaked on Reika’s right cuff.

“Aw, it seems we have a new capturer on our hands, well done Reika.”

“I wouldn’t have made it without Kassio.”

The Queen watched a small smile cross the young man’s face and her eyes narrowed, but before she could say anything to him Reika stepped forward, “My friends, now,” she growled. “You made a deal.”

The Queen signed, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to convince her niece to at least rest and wash up first, and nodded before she looked to Kassio, “Fly my niece down to the valley to find her friends.”

Kassio nodded and bowed, “Of course milady.”

Kassio then turned away and Reika followed after him, as they climbed the bird she looked to him, “Thank you, Kassio.”

“I should be the one thanking you,” he replied, looking to her with a soft smile as he climbed up onto the bird. “You saved me from a slap on the wrist back there, I owe you one.”

She just smiled and when he was settled on the bird he held his hand out for her to take, and she took it firmly as he helped her climb up onto the bird, and when she was on the saddle she wrapped an arm to secure herself to him, and he could feel his heart pick up a little faster as she pressed her chest lightly to his back. 

“Ready when you are,” she replied. 

He nodded refocusing before he took off, and took the bird down into the valley, and when the landed Kassio looked to her before hopping down, holding his hand up to help her down, loving the way her calloused hand felt in his own as she hopped down. 

“This is where they dropped,” he replied. 

She nodded and moved forward looking up and down the valley. 

“They probably headed that way,” Kassio replied pointing deeper in the valley. “That’s where they drop the meat so they can recover the precious stones down here. If their smart they would’ve used the meat they drop to survive and eat.”

She nodded and started to walk  forward and when she didn’t hear Kassio following after her she turned, “You coming?”

A little surprised he nodded and jogged a bit to catch up with her before they continued to walk through the valley and when they spotted a small little shack, Reika’s brows furrowed. 

“You don’t suppose there are indigenous people living down here do you?”

He just shrugged and continued forward with her, and when they spotted someone with purple hair walk out of the shack butt naked and stretch, her face immediately reddened when she realized it was Sinbad, and when the young man turned and spotted her figure there as well, he smiled brightly. 

“Rei!” he called as he rushed over. 

She started to babble as her neared, trying to communicate his nakedness but before she knew it he nearly tackled her in a hug, holding her tightly against him a smile painted on his face. 

“S-Sin you-you’re…”

“You really shouldn't hug a woman when you’ve got nothing but a leaf on,” Kassio piped next to them.

Sinbad looked towards him, still holding the extremely embarrassed Reika close to him and he narrowed his eyes, “Who are you?’

“Kassio,” the blonde answered firmly. “And you must be the fool who got yourself thrown down here.”

“The names Sinbad,” the purplette replied. “Why are you here with Reika?”

“Why are you holding Reika when you’re naked?”

“She’s my friend.”

“Seems she’s also my friend,” Kassio replied. 

Reika was too busy blowing a fuse as the two young men glared at one another, before Jafar and Mystras realized what was going on and rushed over, though when jafar saw Sinbad clinging onto the half-dead Reika in his naked self, he moved forward and hit him in the ribs, making the adventurer jump and release the blonde who backed off quickly, her entire face red.  

“Honestly,” Jafar growled. “Can you not be inappropriate with every woman you see?”

“But it's Rei, I missed her,” Sin pouted moving to wrap an arm around her again, though this time he stopped short when he received another glare from the blonde young man. “Rei, tell me how you know this _ boy _ again?”

Kassio’s brow twitched as the use of the word ‘boy’. 

“The Queen sent him with me to help capture the dungeon,” she answered. 

“What dungeon?” Jafar asked. 

Reika then held up her right cuff, the eight-pointed star lighting up. Jafar and Mystras immediately moved to congratulate her, but a pout crossed Sinbad’s features as disappointment grew inside him, and Kassio’s eyes caught the look on his face before anyone else, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing that concerns you,” Sinbad snipped back. 

Reika continued to speak to Mystras as he threw questions at her, answering them the best she could about the dungeon, while Jafar’s eyes floated to Kassio and Sinbad who starred each other down as they stood on either side of the brawler. He just raised a brow and sighed, knowing that the last thing reika needed was for two men to compete for her affections, especially if one of them was as flirty and rash as Sin. Though when he looked to Kassio he could see the sternness in his stance and features, and the glint in his eyes matched Reika’s own. 

“I think it’d be best if we leave the valley now?”

Everyone nodded and they moved towards the bird, loading up and heading out of the valley and back to the castle, where some female servants handed their things back over with giggles and red cheeks, and as they changed Reika and Kassio waited outside quietly and when they were finished Jafar took note of Reika’s dirtiness.

“Rei, you should go take a bath,” he told her softly. 

She looked to Kassio who nodded and she stepped forward to go ask a servant for help, while Jafar looked to Kassio whose eyes followed her form. A sigh left his lips, “She’s in love with him, you know.”

“With who?”

“Sinbad.”

Kassio fell silent for a few moments, “Affections change.”

“Supposedly,” Jafar replied before he turned away to find Mystras and Sinbad. 

~

Rei took a deep breath when she finished getting dressed in the outfit that the servants had left her, the attendant insisting that she allow them to wash her usual clothes and left her with a two piece outfit that was toga like with a top that showed her shoulders and midsection, but displayed her collar bone a bit more than normal as well, and instead of her usual pants she was left with a shorter skirt. 

She would’ve normally told them to fuck off, but since the sun was almost set and they promised to return her garments to her tomorrow she figured it was fine until then, but she would rather not have her companions see her in such attire, especially Sinbad since her closet would mysteriously consist of skirts overnight knowing him. 

She walked over to the bed and crawled into it, feeling her body relax for the first time in days, her tired muscles and aching bones cushioned and comforted with the perfect combination of hard and soft that a noble bed provided, and soon she felt herself drifting off and before she knew it, she was out like a light. 

~

When Reika woke up she let out a deep moan at the feeling of a hot tongue on her ear, softly stroking and nipping at it. Though when the sleepy haze fell from her, her eyes went wide and she snapped up and turned and when she saw who it was her face and neck lit up red. 

“S-Sinbad?” she asked. “W-What are you…”

“You looked so inviting lying there,” he said and moved closer to her, putting a hand on her bare knee. “With that ass up and your legs exposed.”

Many thoughts raced through her mind, and she was frozen, letting him move in close and connect his lips to her neck, though she pulled back again, putting a hand on his chest, and she pushed him back, “Sin, what are you doing?” she asked, her face still red. 

“You’re so pretty,” he replied, a small smile on his face, along with a somewhat lost look in his eye. “And so  _ sexy _ .”

Reika held her hand, keeping him away while she leaned in a bit. She took two quick whiffs of his breath and immediately she realized he had been drinking. She let out a sigh, “Of course you’re drunk.”

She then took a deep breath and gripped his wrist while she moved to get off the bed, “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

“No!” he snapped, a pout crossing his face while he folded his arms. “I want to stay here! With you!”

She wiped a hand over her face, “Just come on, please, I don’t want to make this difficult.”

“But I want to be here! You’re so pretty! You’re always  _ so  _ pretty!”

“No you don’t,” she replied. “You’re just confused, you only see me as a friend, there’s no way-”

“But I don’t!” he blurted. “I want to be more!”

Her eyes went wide, and then she shook it off. He was drunk, probably just spouting the first thought that came into his head. She then walked over and took his hand, and started to pull. He budged for few seconds, before he pulled back, “No! I’m staying here!”

She huffed as a wave of tiredness flowed over her and she sighed, “Fine, you can stay, just...no funny business alright. We’re going to sleep and that’s it, okay?”

He nodded and let her crawl back into the bed. She brought the covers over her from and turned onto her side away from the adventurer, but a few seconds later she felt his arms wrap around her and pull her in. A small blush returned to her face, and she closed her eyes and felt herself fall into the most peaceful sleep she had ever gotten in her life. 

The next morning Sinbad groaned when his mind registered the sunlight flooding in through the curtains, and he opened his eyes, running a hand over his face ad groaning again from the slight throb in his head. He then sat up and noticed he was fully dressed, and when he heard a soft goran next to him he turned and looked down and his eyes went wide when he saw Reika’s sleeping from. 

Her golden hair was sprawled across the rest of the bed, and a peaceful was across her face as she breathed steadily, her body slightly curled up. A soft smile came to his face, and he reached down to tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear, until he stopped himself as the memory flooded back. He had come here drunkenly to her, and pleaded to stay with her when she insisted for him to leave. 

A sad look crossed his face, but then he remembered what she had said,  _ You’re just confused, you only see me as a friend… _

Did that mean that she cared for him, like he did her? He felt his heart sing at the possibility, and the soft smile returned to his face, and when he saw her fidget and her eyes open he felt himself freeze. She then looked up to him and a sleepy smile crossed her face, “You still drunk?” she asked quietly. 

He chuckled, “Sorry for waking you up last night.”

“It’s alright,” she replied. “It’s not a big deal.”

She then moved to get up, sitting up as she moved to stretch her arms up, her powerful arms, shoulders catching his attention, before he looked to her back, her hair was loosed and flowing down it, slightly disheveled, but that only made it even better as he realized that he wanted to see her every morning, especially since she was so cute when she slept. 

She then stood up and he caught the skirt she was wearing with a smirk, loving the way her sturdy and muscled legs looked in the morning light. 

“You’re beautiful, you know that right?”

She turned and looked back to him, a raised brow on her features, “Are you only saying this becuase I’m half naked and you’re in my bed?”

He laughed and laid back, “No, you just are you know.”

_ The most beautiful girl I’ve ever since.  _

“You’re not too bad yourself, you know,” she replied as she moved to put her hair up, glaring a bit when she couldn’t find her clothes. “You have all of the girls wrapped around your finger.”

“Not the right girl though,” he mumbled. 

“What was that?” she asked as she walked back to the bed, laying back down and covering herself with the warm blanket. 

“Nothing,” he replied, and turned on his side to look back into her eyes, reaching forward a bit to take a lock of her hair between his fingers. “I just wish the right girl would notice.”

“The right girl?” she asked. “Who’s the right one?”

“You.”

“Ha!” she replied quickly. “Yeah right, you like little noble girls.”

“Not really,” he said softly, making her freeze a bit. “I just liked them becuase they looked like you.”

She looked back into his eyes completely frozen as his gaze met hers, “I’m actually surprised you didn't pick up on that, or how I look at you, or how I compliment you. You’re usually very perceptive.”

Reika was quiet as her cheeks heated up.  _ He  _ liked her. Him, Sinbad, the first dungeon capturer, the boy who started his own company at fourteen, like her. Her, Reika, the orphaned street rat, whom he had taken pity on and saved from the streets and a horrible fate. The first young man that had stolen her heart right out from under her, the young man that had ever made her feel valued and made her feel like an actual human, felt the same way about her. About  _ her _ . 

Tears came to her eyes and Sinbad stiffened up as she started to cry, the tears rolling down her cheeks. 

“Are you alright?”

She nodded as she moved to wipe the tears away as she smiled at him softly, “I just...I feel the same way, Sin, and I...I never thought in a million years that you would actually feel the same way about me...I just, I’m a dirty street rat and you, you’re so amazing and kind and I...I...I…”

He smiled softly and moved forward to wrap his arms around her form, kissing the top of her head, “It’s settled,” he replied, his hand lacing with her own while the other brushed the tears away. “Together, then.”

She smiled softly, “Together.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's almost break-time again, so I'll be updating lots and lots. Leave and comment and kudos! Thanks for all the support!


	14. Chapter 14

 

Reika looked to her aunt who moved forward with a smile on her face as she slipped the red headband over her hair, the red feather sticking up, and when Reika looked up and rose from ehr kneeling position the Queen put hands on her shoulders, “Your mother abandoned that feather after her and the late queen had a falling out, but I believe they both smile down on us knowing that you wear that feather, not only as a acknowledgement of your heritage but your fierce and untameable strength.”

A smile crossed Sinbad, Jafar, Mystras and Hinahoho’s faces as they watched her eyes light up as she smiled at well. 

“Thank you, my Queen.”

The Queen then poked her forehead, “No more of that ‘my queen’ nonsense, I am your aunt and as such you will address me as Auntie Mira, and Auntie Mira only.”

Reika held in a laugh, “Of course Auntie Mira.”

A pleased smile crossed the Queen’s face and she turned towards the others, “I trust you will continue to take excellent care of my niece, Sinbad.”

“Of course, your excellency, she is a valuable member of my party and the Sindria Trading Company, besides I’ve invested a heavy penny in her health as well, it’d be a waste of money to cast her aside.”

Reika turned and shot a glare at him, making him smile and chuckle, “Of course just the pleasure of her company and the kindness of her eyes is worth every cent.”

She then looked forward and smile dup at her aunt for a final time before the woman waved an attendant over who was holding a box, “And please take these, more gifts for you and your sister, and there will be more if you return with her of course.”

Reika raised a brow and accepted the box, “Are you trying to bribe me?”

“Of course.”

The younger girl just chuckled before she turned to load the box onto the birds, but when she felt something tug on her pants she turned, blinking a few times when she saw a little girl there, a little girl who liked Clara when she was five or six. She then knelt down, setting the box next to her before she moved to put a hand on top of the little girl’s head smiling brightly, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.”

“We don’t want Reika to go!” more girls around the same age and size said coming out and surrounding her. “Reika has to stay here!”

“Well, uh, I, I have to-”

“No you don’t!” the oldest yelled before she moved to wrap her arms around the older girl. “You’re our older cousin! Not Sinbad’s!”

_ The hell did I do?  _ The young man thought to himself as the younger girls all turned to glare at him at once, all of them with the same look Reika had, making him gulp and step back to move behind Jafar. 

“Aw, come on, he’s not that bad.”

“Not that bad!” Sinbad exclaimed from behind Jafar, though his courage was wiped away when the little warriors stepped between them. 

“You’re the reason Reika got injured in the dungeon!”

“Yeah because men can’t control themselves!”

“They only think with their pee-pee!”

Reika put a hand over her eyes as she signed, before she moved to walk up to them, plucking the smallest of them up and holding her, catching the other girls’ attention as they moved to clutch at her clothing, thought when Sinbad caught the smile on Reika’s face as she held the little look-alike in her arms he couldn’t stop the blush from coming to his face.

“Don’t even think about it,” Kassio growled at him. 

“I can think what I want goldilocks,” Sinbad growled right back. 

“Enough you two,” Jafar snipped as Reika approached, waving goodbye to the little girls and when she stood in front of Sinbad he moved forward, brushing a bang behind her ear before he moved to kiss her cheek and then behind her ear, making her cheeks light up. 

“Are you ready to go?” he whispered into her ear, the hot breath making her stiffen up. 

“Y-yeah,” she replied. “I’m ready.”

He pulled away and smiled softly, “You’re so cute, ReiRei.”

“I thought we agreed we weren’t going to call me that.”

He just smiled softly down at her, making her ears heat up as well. 

_ How the fuck is he so handsome? _

She then pulled away to get onto the bird, and as she did Sinbad turned and sent a glare to Kassio, holding it for a few seconds before he moved to climb up after her. Kassio’s lip sneered as he growled lowly before he moved to board the other bird, clenching his fists tightly. 

~

Sinbad’s brows furrowed in concern when he saw Reika pushing herself as she immediately went for a full equip, her teeth clenched as she forced the equip to take over. 

“Rei stop you’re going to hurt yourself!” he snapped. 

But when she didn’t stop he held in a growl,  _ How fucking stubborn can one girl be? _

“Reika! Stop!” he ordered, his eyes narrowed in both anger and fear. “Now!”

She sucked in a deep breath as the equip was close to manifesting and when she let out a loud snarl the equip finally manifested, the black markings flowing up her legs as her clothes shifted and changed into the black robes of Lilakak, the skirt leaving her legs open, the band only covering he breasts while the tattoos of ancient markings flowed up her arms glossing over her shoulders and crawling up in her neck in the from of two inked spikes that flowed up threw her eyes and when her eyes opened her back off as the purple energy surrounded her, the eyes of red filled in with black making his skin crawl. 

When the equip manifest she stumbled forward a bit before she looked down to her hands, and clenched them before looking up to Sinbad with a smirk before her legs bent slightly as she looked up to the sky. 

“No! Rei don-”

She took off laughing and howling in joy as she flipped and looped through the air, and when she flipped upside down her blonde hair hanging down she looked to Sinbad with a bright smile, that almost didn't creep him out. 

“C’mon Sin! It’s fine!”

He huffed before he moved to equip Baal, joining her up in the air, a slight pout on his face, “You’re going to seriously hurt yourself one of these days, I’m not joking,” he scolded her. “You can't just force your way through everything you know.”

She just shrugged, “It’s worked so far, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah except everytime you do it you end up hurt or bed ridden,” he snipped. “You need to be more careful, especially when playing with magoi and djinns alright.”

She then floated over to him, putting her hands behind her back shyly, tilting her head a bit and looking up to him. 

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “It won’t happen again.”

“Fake apologies and promises are worse than lying right to my face, Reika.”

She just chuckled and moved forward to kiss his cheek, though when she suddenly fell out of her equip she let out a gasp of surprise as she plummeted down for a moment, but before she could even yelp Sinbad caught her and held her close to his chest with one arm. 

“What the hell?” she asked through a ragged breath, her heart thumping in her chest from the sudden scare. 

“Like I said, you can seriously hurt yourself if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

She took a deep breath before looking up to him and moving to press her lips to his cheek, “Who needs to worry about that when I have you here.”

“My concern is for when I’m  _ not _ here,” he replied. 

She sighed, “Okay, okay, I get it, I’ll be more careful from now on. I promise.”

He raised a brow in skepticism, though when he looked back to her face and saw her looking up to him with pleading eyes, her head tilted slightly a small pout on her lips, the wind making her blonde locks flow gracefully behind her. He then looked away a small blush on his cheeks, “We’ll see how long that promise holds up.”

She just giggled a bit, making his heart flutter a soft smile crossing his face as it did before he moved to press his lips to her forehead, before he descended down towards the deck of the ship setting her down carefully before he unequipped his djinn, and when he watched her run up to Kassio his eyebrow twitched before he moved to sit next to Jafar and get some work done while the two did their usual spar on the deck. 

“Think you’ll beat me today?” Reika asked as they walked into the middle of the open deck, the design of the Imchuck ship allowing for plenty of open and clear space. 

“Please, I could handle you in my sleep.”

“Good, because that’s where I’m putting you.”

He smirked, and when he watched her hands go to her belt and take off her daggers and move to gently set them down near Sinbad before she turned and moved to take off her top and set it down as well, revealing the black band that she always wore to secure her breasts. Sinbad looked up his ears heating up a bit, while KAssio just smirked his hands moving to the swords strapped on his back, tossing the sheathed blades aside before doing the same with his own shirt. 

“Take it easy you two,” Jafar called before looking back to his own work, while Sinbad glared daggers at Kassio as the two squared off. 

Though when he saw Reika pounce, his eyes were glued to her from as he watched her go after Kassio with her deadly combination of speed and power, throwing a kick that he’d never seen from her as she jumped up and sliced her powerful limb through the air only to be met with an equally powerful block,before she landed and continued to go after him with her aggressive brawler style that was now being diluted with the agility of an assassin, and when the sweat started to form on her body Sinbad couldn't tear his eyes away as her powerful body continued to flex and stretch, the sweat only adding to the eroticy of the scene as his pants grew tight. 

Though when a fist met the back of his head he turned to pout at Jafar. 

“If you get a hard on again I’ll snap it.”

Whatever blood that had been pumping feverishly now stopped cold and was frozen over under Jafar's intense gaze, and the adventurer immediately went back to his work, not knowing whether the assassin was truly being serious or not. 

~

Kassio let out a grunt as his face was forced against the wood of the ship, His spine straining under the pressure of Reika’s knee while her arm held his arm back secretly, threatening a dislocation. 

“Tap out!” she demanded, and when she saw his spare hand tap the ground three times she backed off, allowing him to turn around and look up to her. 

He just smiled softly as he looked up to her, any shame or pride long abandoned as he looked up to his fellow brawler and warrior, and when she extended her hand he gladly accepted it, holding it for a bit longer as he indulged in her touch before he released it as she moved to get them two cups of water, and as she walked over to the water barrell his eyes traced over her body, loving the power underneath her tanned and scarred skin, loving the warrior aura she produced, and when she bent down, her legs just slightly bent as she filled up the cup he shamefully planted his eyes on her rear, loving the curves that strained against her pants.

Though when she stood back up he moved to wipe his face with a towel, and as she walked over she drank from the one cup in her hand before she held it out to him, “Don't know where the other cup went, sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied.  _ I threw it overboard this morning.  _

He then pressed his lips to where hers had been, tasting her faintly on the rim of the cup, drinking the rest of the water before he set it down as Reika moved to sit on the railing of the ship, her hand rubbing the fresh bruise on her face from a strike tha the had successfully landed. 

“You didn't hold back today,” she replied. 

“I ate a good breakfast,” he countered, making her chuckle, his ears loving the sound of her voice. “Besides the household training with Jafar left me itching for a fight.”

“How is it going, you getting the hang of it?”

“I think so,” he replied and powered up the cuff on his right hand, the purple energy of strength magic flowing around it. “Haven’t tried it out on anyone yet though.”

“Eh, maybe we’ll run into some pirates.”

He sent her a look, “You better knock on wood.”

She smiled and knocked twice on the railing. 

~

“REIKA!”

The blonde turned na smiled brightly as she saw her sister rushing towards her at full speed, making her drop her bag before she bent down to catch the smaller girl in her arms, both of them smiling brightly and when she held her sister up, Clara’s smaller arms wrapped around her tightly as she buried her face in her neck. Tears biting at both of their eyes as they held one another for the first time in months. 

And when Clara pulled away, Reika wiped the tears from her cheeks with one hand before she kissed both of her cheeks, “I love you, Clara.”

“I love you too, Reika.”

Clara then kissed her sister’s cheek before they both looked down after something large brushed against them, and Reika’s eyes went wide when she saw Kali for the first time in months, setting her sister down as she went on a knee to scratch behind her furred friend’s ear. 

“You got so big, Kali.”

The now adolescent lioness moved to rub her head against Reika’s, grumbling softly before pulling away to lick her face and ears. Reika laughed before she moved to press her nose to hers, looking deeply into their eyes, and Kali looking just as deeply into hers. 

“Thank you, Kali, for looking after her.”

They held the gaze for a few moments before Reika rose to her feet, scratching the lionesses head before she moved back to her little sister, taking her hand as the workers all surrounded them, and by them she met Sinbad. Though when she couldn;t spot her adoptive mother her brows furrowed, and she looked down to her sister, “Where’s Rurumu?”

“She’s this way,” Clara said tugging on her hand. “She’s resting in the house.”

Reika allowed her sister to lead her through a short walk through the streets before them came to a house, the maids letting them threw with smiles and when they came to a bedroom, Reika’s eyes went mad when she saw Rurumu laying on a bed, her hand resting on her extremely swollen stomach a soft smile on her face. 

“Aw, Reika, you’re back,” she said, her eyes seeming to glow with her love as she patted the bed next to her. 

Reika moved forward sitting on the bed, her little sister sitting on her lap a nervous feeling in her gut. 

“How was the journey? Was it safe?”

She nodded, “It was fine for the most part, the sea was safe, but land was kind of the opposite.”

Rurumu chuckled, “As to be expected when travelling with Sinbad,” she said softly, before her hand moved to touch the feather on the red hand gently. “You’re a citizen of Artemyra now.”

She nodded, “Turns out our aunt is the Queen there.”

Rurumu’s brows furrowed when her adoptive daughter gave her another short answer, her eyes avoiding the older woman’s, before she moved to put a hand on her cheek, cradling her face gently, the action making Reika feel safe and secure as the older woman spoke softly and gently. 

“I will not suffer from this Reika,” she said, knowing full well that pregnancy and birth had killed her daughter's birth-mother, resulting in Reika’s uneasiness towards pregnancy and the worry of her adoptive mother’s life. “My pregnancy is my joy, and your little sister will be happy to meet you, and I know that you will protect her and guard her like Clara.”

Reika smiled gently and put her hands over Rurumu, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s nothing to be sorry for,” Rurumu replied before she pulled away. 

Reika then looked down to Clara, “How do you know it’ll be a girl?”

“Well, we’re not sure, but Pipirika is insisting that’ll be one.”

Reika then looked around, “Where is that little punk anyways?”

Rurumu chuckled, “Probably with his Papa now,” she answered. “But tell me more of Artemyra, I want to hear more about it, and about this aunt of yours, I’m sure Clara is eager to hear as well.”

Reika nodded with a smile and began to tell them everything that she could remember about her homeland, and even going into detail about the dungeon and her new companion Kassio who was her and cLara’s kinsman, though when she explained her new relationship with sinbad both her mother and sister immediately lit up, along with the maids that Reika was familiar with who had moved in to listen as well. 

“You and Sinbad are together?” Clara asked her eyes bright. “Does that mean I’m going to have a niece soon!”

“Well, ah no let’s-”

“How did it happen, did he confess to you?” one of the maids asked. “Tell us everything!”

_ I have a feeling that this will not be as smooth as those girls expect it to be,  _ Rurumu thought to herself, knowing that the two’s relationship had been rocky when they left.

“Well, uh, he came into my room drunk and told me that I always smelt good and that I was pretty, and when I tried to get him to leave he wouldn’t go, so I just figured it would be easier to let him stay, and then the next morning we decided we would be together,” she explained her ears bright red. 

“That's it!” one of them whined. “Details, Reika!”

“Yeha, did you kiss?” Clara asked. 

“Well, one cheeks and foreheads yeah, and he even kissed behind my ear, but we haven't kissed...here…yet,” she replied, tapping her lips, her eyes watching the floor as her cheeks started to match her ears. 

“You haven't kissed!” one of the maids exclaimed. “What are you waiting for!’

“Well...I just...he’s kissed a lot of girls, girls who are way prettier than I am, and I just...I don’t want to mess it up.”

Rurumu chuckled and Reika looked to her. 

“Is that all?”

Reika nodded her face red, her eyes looking to the floor, though when Rurumu put a hand on her head she looked up to meet her calming eyes. 

“Sinbad absolutely adores you,” she told her. “You would know that if you knew how much his eyes follow you and how he smiles when he watches you from afar. He’s never looked at any other girl with that glint in his eyes. So don’t worry about messing it up, and if you do make a mistake he’ll just think it's absolutely adorable.”

Reika’s face lit up red, “...Okay…”

Rurumu chuckled before she let out a yawn, and Reika then stood. 

“C’mon Clara let’s head back to the company.”

“Why? I want to stay with Ruru!” the younger girl whined. 

“Becuase Ruru’s tired because she’s turning food into a person,” she answered. “Come on, we can come see her tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave Comments and Kudos! Happy Holidays to all of you!


	15. Chapter 15

Reika looked down to the goblet Jafar had handed her and she looked up with a raised brow, “what is this?” she asked. 

“It’s wine, expensive wine,” he answered. 

“Why give it to me?”

“You’ve earned this cup and then some,” he replied, smiling at her. “I haven't properly thanked you for pulling us out of the valley, or for shoving me out of the way of that stone from Sinbad’s fight in Sasan. You’re better at being a bodyguard than I thought you would be.”

She looked down to the liquid and sniffed it, though when she received a glare from him she moved to take a sip. The taste was smooth, bitter and nothing she had imagined, making her brows furrow as she stared down into the cup. 

“What?” Jafar asked her. 

“I thought it would be fruity.”

He chuckled, “It’s still booze Rei, just well refined booze.” 

“I still don't get why people drink it.”

“Well, if you don't figure it out then maybe you can ask your rising alcoholic then.”

She raised a brow in amusement as she took another swig, “ _ My  _ alcoholic?” she asked. “Since when is he my responsibility? I thought that was your job.”

Jafar chuckled as they both looked back to Sin who seemed to glow and thrive as he told the stories of their adventures to the workers. Reika smiled softly, watching his face contort, watching his hands gesture as he brought the story to life with his words and movies, and when his eyes met hers he smiled brightly to her making her heart melt even more. 

“Is this love, Jafar?” she asked. 

He looked up to her, “What do you mean?”

She looked to him as she placed a hand on her chest, “I can’t tell if I love him or not, I’ve never...I’ve never been in love with anyone before, not like I am with him.”

“I’ve never been in love with anyone either,” he replied, “but from what I’ve seen, I think it means that you’ll do anything for them and that you’ll always be by their side and support them.”

Reika looked back to Sinbad and then she turned around to lean on the stone railing, taking another swig of the wine, “...I think I’m in love then,” she said softly. 

“Ugh,” Jafar replied. “You were so much cooler when you weren't all gushy and shit like this. I liked you better when all you cared about was food and training. Now you’re just somewhat quiet and sarcastic rather than truly mean.”

“I can go back to that, you know.”

He shrugged and turned to look at the sky with her, “No point in it now, that idiot would just drag you back to whatever the hell’s going on with you now.”

She then looked down to him, “You would too, you know,” she replied. “At least that’s what I thought, you know, since we bonded and shit.”

He chuckled and then both turned when they heard someone approach and Reika smiled when she saw Kassio approaching, his own goblet of wine in his hand, an unhappy look on his face, “Can I go home, now?” he asked gruffly. 

“What’s wrong with you?”

“The women,” he replied, and then shuddered a bit. “And some of the men.”

Reika turned and leaned against the rails with her elbows, “I probably should’ve warned you, sorry about that Kass,” she chuckled, “but you’ll get used to it I promise. I was the same way when I got here, all of them so damn nice and huggy, it was nothing like in the slums, but it was good for me. I finally remembered what it was like to have a family, a community.”

He smiled as he looked down to the city, “Yeah, I think it’ll be good for me too,” he then looked to her, his smile softening. “Especially if you’re here.”

She just smiled towards him, “Thanks Kass.”

_ Idiot _ , Jafar thought as he took his own gulp.  _ He’s been making passes at you for the last month, it’s a wonder how you noticed Sinbad’s affection but not his. _

Jafar then looked back to them, his eyes narrowing a bit on Kassio when they exchanged cups to share their different drinks before they switched back. This fool was an idiot if he thought he could win reiak with cheap little tricks like that. It had taken a month for Reika to even realize she had feelings for Sinbad, and that had been a delightful discussion. 

_ Reika gripped her hair her cheeks bright red, “Why do I think he’s so goddamn cute?” she growled. “Why is he so pretty? Why does his voice make my heart beat faster? It’s so dumb!” _

_ Jafar rolled his eyes for a good long turn before looking up to her as she paced back and forth in his office, her cheeks and ears bright red as she did, her movements stiff and her eyes irritated and confused. He furrowed his brows, he thought this was just like another one of Sinbad’s drunken rambles, but perhaps in Reika’s case it was genuine. The girl had never had friends and probably had never experienced what it was like to have a crush before.  _

_ “You like him, Rei,” he told her.  _

_ “Of course I like him!” Reika blared at him angrily. “He’s my friend, idiot!” _

_ “Not like than moron!” Jafar snarled back. “I mean in a sexual way.” _

_ “WHAT?!” she asked him. “WHY WOULD I EVER DO THAT TO SIN?!” _

_ He put his head in his hands and took a deep breath, questioning why the gods had decided that Reika would become his responsibility,  and he looked back to her, “As I’ve explained before, there's a clear difference between sex and rape, Rei, alright? I’m not saying you want to rape him, I’m saying you want to be with him, like those other girls like to be with him.” _

_ She blinked at him a few times and she then plopped down to the floor, her legs crossed, “Really?” _

_ He nodded, “From what you’re describing, yes.” _

_ She looked down to the floor confused and blinked for a few more moments, and then looked back up to him, “How can I make it go away.” _

_ “It’s not going to go away, it’s how you feel Reika,” he explained.  _

_ Her brows furrowed further, “Well then...how...how do I...how do I be with him?” _

_ “Well, i suggest a gift of some sort,” he replied. “Something specially picked out for him, something that you’ve put great thought and consideration into.” _

_ She went quiet before she got up and nodded to him, still a bit confused, “How is a gift-” _

_ “Go talk to Rurumu!” he snapped at her, his patience finally waning. “It’s her turn!” _

Jafar smiled as he remembered one of Reika’s countless clueless moments that continued to happen every now and then, like when she asked him earlier about what ‘lingerie’ was. Most of them were harmless, but there were the shining stars that he would use to tease her with later, though when he turned back around his brows furrowed when he saw the annoyed look on Sinbad’s face, and when he looked to where he was looking, he realized that Kassio and Reika were laughing next to him.

Jafar rolled his eyes with a ‘ugh’ before he elbow Reika in the ribs making her jump and snap her gaze towards him, “The hell was that fo Jafar?” she growled at him. “I believe your responsibility is feeling abandoned.” 

She then turned around and looked to Sin with a raised brow before she walked over, smiling up at him and he immediately smiled back and moved to press his lips to her forehead, before he wrapped his hand loosely on the side of her neck and moved to kiss behind her ear, making quick eye contact with Kassio before he pulled away smiling softly to her, the workers around them stopping to watch with soft smiles as Sinbad tucked her hair behind her ear as he whispered softly to her before she shared her wine with him. 

“Still trying to get reika to see you?” Jafar asked Kassio. 

“What’s it to you?”

“Everything,” Jafar replied his gaze sharpening on him. “They’re extremely good for each other,” he snipped. “Sinbad motivates Reika to become a good person and have real goals in life, while Reika motivates him to work hard and get his fucking shit done so I don't have to do that.”

“But do you actually think that he can make her happy?” Kassio asked. 

“Yes, I do, and I don't know why you don’t.”

Kassio just huffed before he turned around, anger and jealousy radiating off of him as Sinbad pulled Reika off.into the company. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains spoilers for the manga, if you wish to read before continuing you can find an english version of the manga here:   
> http://www.mangareader.net/adventure-of-sinbad-prototype
> 
> If you want to just read it from the chapter that i'm starting with than you can follow this link to chapter 56 of the manga:  
> http://www.mangareader.net/adventure-of-sinbad-prototype/56
> 
> Fair warning there are a lot of adds and pop-ups, so you'll have to be a bit patient.

“Uh, Sinbad?” Vittel asked as he approached the President who had been watching Reika dance with her little sister. 

“What is it?”

“There are customers here to see you,” he replied, nervously, his hands fidgeting. “Normally I would’ve told them no, but...it seems urgent.”

Sinbad looked into his eyes for a few moments before he nodded and rose to his feet, and called for Reika who turned and smiled, kissing the top of her little sister’s head before setting her down and then moving to join him, Kali following after her. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked. 

“There’s some customers here to see me,” he replied. “I was hoping my bodyguard would join me.”

She nodded, “Of course.”

He then turned and walked to the door where the others were gathered, but when they heard a scream on the other side, Reika drew her dagger and pushed Sin back before she lunged through the door, Kali joining her as she hunched down a growled at the large figure standing over a maid. 

“Who are you?” she boomed. 

The figured then looked up and Reika;s eyes went wide when she saw the figure under the cloak to look up and reveal a man with the face of a dragon. Reika took a few steps back as he stood up as well, sending magoi to her cuff, but when he removed the hood and held his hands up she relaxed. 

“I-I’m sorry,” he spoke, his voice deep and gruff, almost like he was dehydrated. “I didn’t mean to scare her, she fell and I simply moved to help.”

Reika looked him over before she sheathed her dagger and straightened up, motioning her hand for Kali to relax as well, “Any weapons on you?” she asked and looked forward to the others who were just as roughed up as he was. “On any of you?”

“Just swords and knives, milady,” one of the women said. 

“I’ll ask you to hand them over to the maids, so they may set them on the table over there, before I can allow Sinbad to speak with you.”

“Of course,” the dragon-man said before all of them relinquished their weapons and watched as they were set on the table, and she couldn't help but to notice how pale, dirty, hungry and thirsty they all looked, and as the maids left she pulled one of them aside. 

“Please have some bread, fruit and water brought out for our guests, and inform the Lord it's safe to enter.”

The maid nodded to her, “Of course, Miss Reika.”

“You don’t have t-”

“Nonsense,” Reika replied to the man and smiled to him softly, knowing full well the misery of going without food and drink was. “You’re guests here and you all look like you need some food and drink. It’ll be my treat.”

“Thank you, Miss Reika,” he said. “You’re very kind.”

She nodded with a smile and as Sinbad entered she opened up to him, but when she saw him seem to freeze her brows furrowed, and when his eyes widened she waited for him to speak but his words were cut off when a hand slammed down on a table. Everyone’s gaze snapped the the figure of a woman who now stood, her eyes narrowed in pure hostility, “Bringing us here without telling us,” she growled. “I won’t approve of that man!”

Reika reached for her balde, but Sinbad stopped her hand by gripping her wrist lightly. 

The dragon man turned looking distress, “Princess!”

“That man...that man is a traitor!” she boomed. “That man is also the man who humiliated me! My bitter enemy!”

_ Damn Sin, who’d you piss off this time?  _ Reika asked herself as she looked to watch his face, only to be met with his business like poker face, though when she removed her hood his eyes widened slightly making her look back to the young woman, her brows furrowing when she saw the unevenly cut pink hair, the mismatched with the fierce fire in her eyes. 

“Having to appear in front of my enemy like this is truly disgraceful!” she shouted, “I am the first Princess of Parthevia Empire, Serendine! I won’t let you get away with saying you forgot about me!”

“Y-You’re…”

“Sinbad,” the dragon man started, and moved on his knees, making Sinbad back off with widened eyes. “Please, help us.”

“You...could you be...Drakon?”

Everyone else’s eyes went wide a the familiar name, even Reika’s as she immediately connected the name to a young man Sinbad had told her about, a man whom had helped him fight against the demon in Valefor's dungeon, but how...how had he come to look like a beast more than the stiff young man Sinbad had described him as?

Though sinbad turned as the food and drink arrived and Reika immediately moved to direct it to the table, and Sin turned to look to Rei with a soft smile and nodded to thank her, before he dismissed the girls and guards, leaving them alone with the group of four, the blonde brawler even sent Kali away to watch Clara before moving with Sinbad as he sat down, but before she could assume her bodyguard stance he looked up to her. 

“It’s alright, Reika, we’re among friends,” he told her softly, “Introduce yourself and sit.”

She hesitated but then moved to bow to them respectfully a warming smile crossing her face, “I am Reika Artemina, but you can just call me Reika or Rei. Im Sinbad’s bodyguard.”

“But outside of her formal duties she and I share a close relationship,” Sinbad added, making Reika blush a bit. “You can trust her Drakon.”

Sinbad then looked back to her and smiled patting the cushion next to her, and she moved and sat next to him, her eyes darting to the two dark haired women who hesitated to reach for the food and drink and her brows furrowed upwards, “There’s no shame here,” she spoke softly. “If you're hungry, eat, if you’re thirsty, drink. I know the pain of hunger and won’t allow you to endure it.”

Sinbad glanced towards Reika with a small smile and Darkon caught the glint in his old friend’s golden orbs and he smiled softly before the young man looked back to him, and they started slowly, sinbad making sure once again that Drakon felt comfortable in the room he was in, though the soft moment was cut short when the Princess’s voice cut through. 

“I have nothing to discuss with a man like him,” she said firmly. “That man is a traitor.”

Her face then shifted to pure rage and she bore her fangs, venom dripping from her words, making Reika’s brows furrow downwards as a dark look crosse dher look as the young woman accused her partner of causing the coup d'etat in her country, and when she called him selfish Reika moved to interject, only for Sinbad to put his hand over hers and squeeze it softly making her eyes snap up to him, a bit of surprise and annoyance flooding her gut when she saw the calm look on his face. Though she calmed down a bit, lulled by his touch as his fingers traced over her calloused hand. 

Though when Drakon cut in and the princess snapped at him and reika caught his resolve to defend Sinbad fade she saw the wounded look in his eyes as he looked away, the same crossing the Princess’s face. 

“Please excuse them,” the woman with longer dark hair moved to speak. “They are both exhausted mind and body from our journey, please allow me to explain.”

The woman explained everything, and when Serendine expressed her anger for her father’s murder, though when her voice lacked bite Sinbad looked to Reika and after a few seconds she nodded in understanding, and he looked back to them, “You should all get some rest,” he said. “You all looked exhausted, in need of a warm bed, bath and food. Whatever else needs to be explained can wait.”

He moved then stood, keeping his grip on Reika’s hand as well, though when Seren interjected immediately, he turned sharply his eyes narrowed on her, “Be quiet!” he boomed, making Reika’s eyes go wide at the first time he raised his voice. “I am in charge here!”

He then turned towards her, his eyes still narrowed sternly, “I offered you asylum becuase I believe it is the best course of action, and that it would be best for you and your party to clean up and rest,” he continued. “For someone who claims to lead others you need to look to your companions and do everything for their health.”

He then turned to Reika as she rose, “Please, show them to the bathhouses, and perhaps bathe with them,” he told her softly, before he moved to kiss her forehead and whisper in her ear, “And please, try to be nice to Serendine, she’s exhausted and needs a friend.”

She nodded and smiled softly, “I’ll join you after.”

He raised a brow, “Oh? For extracurricular activities, perhaps?”

She rolled her eyes, “You wish.”

She then pulled away and smiled to the part before she led them out of the room, and to the bathhouses.

~

Reika settled into the water and signed as the warm water soaked over her muscles and then looked to the others who visibly relaxed into the warm and slightly steaming water as well, no doubt feeling much more relief than she was, but when she caught a glare from serendine her brow twitched. 

“What?” she asked. 

“How can you be with  _ him _ ?”

Her eyes narrowed as a dark look crossed her face, “I don’t know your history with Sin, and I don’t know what you’ve been through, so I’ll let it slide this once, but don’t ever refer to the man I care about in that tone around me again, understand?”

Though the other young woman didn't back down, “He’s despicable, a traitor and selfish, I’ll never forgive him for what he did.”

Reika took a deep breath and used what little patience she had, “Listen, Princess, I don't know how well you know Sin, but you should know that his father was killed in the war with Parthevia after he was sent to die for harboring a spy who portrayed himself as an injured traveller,” she explained. “His father had already served your country and lost his leg, and then was sent to die once again. His mother, died of a long term illness just after he returned from the dungeon of a disease that he couldn’t get medicine for becuase your country decided to self destruct, so before you dare call him a traitor I suggest you understand the circumstances as I am trying to understand yours.”

Seren’s eyes fell away and she scoffed, “You are offly defensive of him.”

“Becuase without him I would be dead and rotting in the slums, my sister worse off,” Reika confessed, hesitating to continue since she didn’t often lead with her past. 

“Yeah? And what's your sob story?” the princess asked, her words lacking the bite they seemed to want to have, almost as if her humanity was getting the best of her anger.

“My father was killed in the war with Parthevia, and my mother died from infection after giving birth to my younger sister. We were left abandoned in the slums and I surrendered myself to a man for the sake of my younger sister,” Reika explained. 

“How old were you?” Saher asked. 

“I was five at the time,” she answered. “I was in his custody for eleven years, where I was beaten, starved and raped many times.”

“Are you criticizing me for not being in the same pain as you?” Serendine asked sharply. “Asking me why I couldn't handle what you’d been through.”

“No,” Reika answered frimly. “I’m simply trying to tell you that I understand your pain, and i do want to help you, all of you. I was attempting to comfort you. Rurumu tells me that often it helps us to hear other’s pain when we are in our own, that it is a small selfish comfort.”

“Yet you lie at night with my enemy,” Serendine replied. “I could never confide in someone like you, who  _ whores _ herself to a man like Sinbad.”

Reika’s eyes immediately sharpened and Seren jumped a bit when she saw the look in Reika’s eyes, her eyes mimicking that of a killer’s, the effect strengthened by the blonde's lack of words, as a chill ran down the other’s spines as they wondered what she would do next, but when she closed her eyes and rose from the bath, her powerful body put on display as she walked over to the towels, “The maids will show you to your room when you’re finished,” she said in a dull tone. “Sleep well.”

She then removed herself from the room, changed into her clothes and went to check on her younger sister, smiling softly when she saw Clara past out on her bed, Kali curled up next to her, and after Reika snuck in to kiss the girl’s forehead and tuck her in gently she moved to Sinbad’s quarters knocking lightly. 

“Come in,” his voice said. 

She walked in and he smiled as she moved towards him, joining him on the balcony, and she took his hand in her own, before a thought from earlier today entered her mind, and she moved to grip his chin lightly and make him look towards her and she moved to press her lips against his own softly, and his was a little surprised but moved to kiss her back quickly, and as she pulled away he hummed lightly, a calm blissful expression on his face, “I was wondering when you would get to that,” he said. 

She smiled back, “You’ve been patient,” she replied and held his hand a bit tighter, “Thank you.”

He then moved forward, putting a hand on her cheek, while the other moved to grip her hip, holding her close to him as he looked into her eyes, “Patience means little when I’m with you,” he replied. “I would wait a thousand more years for you to kiss me again, milady.”

She giggled softly and moved to settle her arms on his shoulders, “You truly do have the silverest tongue in Reim.”

He laughed softly and moved to capture her lips once again, the feeling of euphoria flooding through both of them as they person they cared for most held them close and shared their intimacy with one another, and Reika began to questions why she had deprived herself of his intoxicating lips for so long, and when he pulled away she felt the need for more as she put fire into the next kiss, making him moan softly as his flame was added to the fire as well, their lips and hands moving to claim and clutch one another, and when Sinbad dared a bit and nipped at her lip, making her gasp and open herself to him he moved to plunge his tongue into her mouth, making her moan as her knees buckled a bit as their tongues tossed and turned between one another, and when they pulled away a strand of saliva connected their mouths as they stared intensely into one another’s eyes. 

And sinbad felt a passion like never before rise in him as he looked back to her, while Reika rode the euphoric high for the first time as Sin moved to pepper his lips along her neck, loving that he could finally have his lips sucking at her exposed neck and when he latched on and began to suck, Reika gripped the sleeve of his shirt at the sensation and when he pulled away he saw the mark beginning to form on her skin as the blood flushed against it. 

“Sin,” she whined softly. 

“How was that?” he asked. 

She didn't answer for a few moments, “Wow,” she finally spoke. 

He chuckled and kissed her cheek lovingly, “You’re so cute, Rei,” he told her. 

“I’m not cute,” she replied, pulling away and moving to sit on the sofa. 

He moved to sit next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, his hand idly rubbing at her shoulder as she leaned against him. 

“How was Seren.”

“A bitch.”

He smiled, “Details?”

“She asked me how I could possibly ‘whore’ myself to you.”

Sinbad raised a brow, “Is she alive?”

“Yes.”

He kissed the top of her head, “I’m proud of you, and you’re not a whore, nor could you ever be one,” he replied. “Besides I would pay for your attention every night, so I would be your only customer.”

“Thanks?”

He laughed and when there was a knock at the door, and Jafar and Hinahoho came in, jafar’s eyes immediately rolled, “Ugh, they’re being a couple again.”

Hinahoho just smiled and they walked in sitting on the adjacent sofa, and began discussing the business while Reika was lulled to sleep against Sinbad, falling asleep to his soft kisses, touches and calming scent, and Sinbad tried not to freak out at how cute she was as she breathed softly against him, he moved carefully, hooking his arms under her legs and moved to place her in the bed, tucking her in before kissing her forehead and moving back to his companions to let her sleep, and after a few minutes Sahel came in to speak with him. 

~

Sinbad pulled his jacket off, his boots and pants following as he climbed into the bed, groaning softly as he moved towards Reika, climbing under the blanket to reach for her and wrap her arms around her strong body holding her to him with a soft smile. 

“You’re amazing,” he whispered to her. 

He then buried his face into her neck, falling asleep to the sound of her breath and soft skin. 

“I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment and tell me how I'm doing, thank you all for the support!


	17. Chapter 17

Sinbad’s eyes went wide and he sat up immediately, looking down to the blonde with shocked eyes,  _ Did she...Did she just say she loved me?  _

He then saw that her eyes were still closed, that calm and cute look on her face, he then reached forward and brushed a bit of hair out of her face, trying to see if she was just pretending after saying something like that, though he figured if she did she would be all flustered, at the very least her ears would be red. He then took a few moments and smiled before he settled next to her, chalking it up to night ramblings before he settled back next to her and fell into a calming sleep. 

The next morning when he woke up he blinked rapidly for a few moments because of the sunlight flooding in through the curtains, before he rose from his bed, the blanket falling off him and as he looked around he saw that Reika was still fast asleep next to him, he raised a brow and moved to kiss her ear softly, “Rei, wake up.”

She opened her eyes before groaning and turning to bury herself further in the blankets and hide from the sun, Sin laughed lightly before he moved under the blankets, “C’mon, Rei, we need to get up.”

“ _ You _ need to get up,” she grumbled. “I’m not the boss.”

She just curled up further, and he rolled his eyes before he leaned in, “If you get up with me, then I’ll give a treat later.”

She opened her eyes, thinking for a few moments before she turned and looked back to him, “Bedroom treat or kitchen treat?”

He smiled, “Anything you want,” he replied, moving to pinch her rear making her jolt as he moved to get out of bed. 

Rei sat up to watch him, her cheeks heating up a bit as he removed his shirt, exposing his lean and defined back to her and when he turned a bit towards her to send her a wink she looked away before getting up and moving towards the mirror to fix her disheveled clothes, though when she saw Sin walking over with a change of clothes she raised a brow as he handed them to her. 

“Here, wear these, I got them in Artemyra.”

“Why, my clothes-”

“They kind of stink.”

Her eyes narrowed in a glare before she moved to sniff herself, smelling a bit of the nightly BO. She took a deep breath and then moved towards the bed setting the clothes down before she moved to change into them, and when she was finished she turned to Sinbad as she wore clothes similar to what the maids had given her in Artemyra, the white top reached halfway up her neck still leaving her midsection open, but had stands that flowed to her shoulders, and the skirt had a small short component to it as well. 

“Sin, what’s this?” she asked him in a light accusing tone. 

He just smiled as he pulled his jacket on, “I may have bought that for you when I saw how gorgeous you looked in the garment, though this one I picked out especially for you. The slightly tighter fit is so you can fight as well, along with the shorts that connect to the skirt, there are also loops for your dagger belt as well.”

She then reached for the belt and strapped it around, finding everything he said to be true before she looked up and smiled at him, “Thank you, Sin.”

“Anything for you,” he replied. “Now come here, your hair is atrocious.”

She then moved over and sat down in front fo the vanity while Sinbad moved to brush her fuzzed hair out, and when he gripped a bottle from the vanity, she watched as he squirted the oil in his palms before rubbing it and moving to rub it into her hair and he chuckled when he felt her lean into his hands into and against her scalp, the new sensation making her sigh. 

“Like it?”

She nodded, “Yeah,” she purred softly. 

When he was done rubbing the oil into her hair, he then moved to braid it, his fingers moving deftly through her hair as he weaved her hair from the front of her head to the base of the back before he moved to tie it off, letting her hair flow down freely after, and when he ran his finger over the bridge of her braid she felt chills run up her spine, making him smile before he reached for her red headband and slipped it on, adjusting it so that her bangswent over the band, running a hand over the feather to smooth it out. 

“What do you think?” he asked, kissing her ear. 

“If this starting a country thing doesn’t pan out than you should consider opening a boutique,” she replied, and turned to capture his lips in a soft kiss, moaning softly as he went for another.

Though when he pulled and reached for a small box and opened it and carefully pulled out a necklace with a silver chain and a amethyst gem in it, he then carefully place it on her chest before he moved to fasten it behind her. He then looked to her in the mirror, smiling happily when he saw how the necklace complimented her eyes. Reika then looked up to him, “Sin, this is too much,” she said. “The clothes, and this? It’s too much.”

“Nonsense,” he replied. “You look beautiful.”

“But-”

“It’s rude to refuse a gift, Rei.”

“But-”

“Come on, let’s go to breakfast, I’m starving and I can tell you’re hungry as well.”

She sighed, “Alright.”

She then got up and followed after and when he opened the door he waited for her as she put her sandals on before she moved towards him and he took her hand with a smile, tough when Reika looked down the hall she saw Serendine, Sahel and Tamira there and she looked to them with a smile before she walked with Sinbad down the hall, though when they made it down the stairs, Reika’s eyes went wide when she saw Reim guards. 

“What’s going on?” she asked Sin. 

“I don’t know,” he replied before moving forward to stop the guards, Rei following just a few steps behind him, and when the guard explained that a date to pay off a debt had passed both of their brows furrowed and they looked to each other confused on what debt the company had gathered. 

Though when Vittel approached along with the others and fessed up, explaining how while they were gone the company got caught in a trap from a rival and fell into debt, Reika would've tried to comfort Vittel if she wasn’t busy trying to restrain Jafar. 

“Calm down!” she growled as she held him up under his arms and he kicked and flung his arms around. 

“I’ll kill him!” Jafar snarled. “Put me the fuck down!”

“I’ll put you down when you calm down!” she snarled right back. “And don’t hit me you little squirt!”

“Shut up Streetrat!”

The smaller boy eventually calmed down and Reika put him down, and when Sinbad learned the name of who had flipped his company upside down he moved outside and Reika followed him her brows furrowing when he equipped his djinn. 

“Where are you going?” Jafar called to him as he lifted into the air. 

“To speak to the other party directly,” he replied, and when he looked to Reika she nodded and equipped her djinn as well, taking off into the air with him and when they arrived to the rival company they landed and unequipped. 

All eyes turned to them and when they looked up a nobleman immediately pointed to them, “Guards! Arrest the trespassers!”

“Reika.”

The blonde then drew her daggers and moved forward, between Sinbad and the guards her fierce gaze locked onto them, making them hesitate to move forward, but before they did a voice cut through. 

“There’s no need for that,” a stern feminine voice said, making them all look to the woman who sat above the rest and when Reika saw the slave children that were decorations around her, her eyes narrowed. “Let’s put the weapons away, shall we? Sinbad?”

Reika glanced back to him and he nodded, making her loosen up and sheathe her daggers, and as he walked forward she waited for him to pass her before she followed after him, sending magoi to her cuff getting ready to make a quick equip if things went sideways, especially since they were dealing with a slave trader, something that made Reika pissed of more than normal. 

“I am Maader, Head of the Maridel Company,” she started. “I believe this is the first time we’ve met, Sinbad of the Sindria Trading Company.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter covers a part of the Slave Arc in the manga (Chapters 56-81) which you can read here:
> 
> http://www.mangareader.net/adventure-of-sinbad-prototype/56
> 
> This chapter starts at chapter 63:
> 
> http://www.mangareader.net/adventure-of-sinbad-prototype/63
> 
> I HIGHLY suggest you read the manga. 
> 
> Also there is a smut scene ahead, it is not necessary to read it, and you may skim through by using the usual marks I use to separate parts of the chapter. Example: 
> 
> ~
> 
> "Who gives a shit?"
> 
> ~

**READ THE CHAPTER NOTE BEFORE YOU BEGIN!**

“You what?” Jafar asked, and then looked to Reika. “You let this happen?”

Reika’s eyes went a bit wide when his furious gaze focused in on her. 

“This isn't her fault,” Sinbad said, gaining the boy’s attention. “She tried to stop me, but I wasn't going to hear it, besides this was my choice and the only way to secure the company.”

“What if you-”

“It’s fine, Jafar, I’ll win and I’ll come back safe okay?” the young man said before walking off, making Jafar groan as he ran a hand over his face. 

He then huffed and looked to the blonde. “You should go with him, make sure he gets there safely and takes the fight seriously? Can I trust you with that?”

She nodded, and when her eyes floated back down to the ground a hint of guilt in them, and Jafar groaned again before reaching forward, gripping her forearm, “Don’t blame yourself for that idiot, just keep him safe until he gets there and give the proper motivation to win, alright?”

“Of course,” she replied. “I’ll do everything I can.”

She then turned away and went to pack her own things and when Sinbad turned after saying his quick goodbyes he stopped mid step as Reika stood in front of him, a look of determination on her face as she looked into his golden eyes, “I’m coming with you,” she told him.  

He smiled softly, and reached for her hand, making her cheeks heat up a bit as he grasped it tightly with a handsome smile on his features, “I wouldn't have it any other way.”

They then started to walk towards the docks, and Reika’s eyes looked down and away before she clasped back at his hand, embarrassment washing over her as they walked through the streets and towards the docks, and when they arrived Sinbad quickly asked for a passenger ship and got them set up in a room with a single bed. 

~

Sinbad pulled away, his eyes glossed over as he looked down at Reika, his knee between her legs, threatening close to her core and as he looked over her he felt the tightness in her pants become even worse. She was looking up at him with lust drink eyes panting slightly as her hair laid around her like a halo, her neck sporting a love bit up by her ear and a hickey down where it met her shoulder, her lips slightly swollen and her cheeks flushed. 

“Sin I...I…want more.”

“What?”

“I want to...to have...have sex with you.”

Her cheeks lit up as he looked down to her, his pants tightening completely as he shifted his hips for a moment, “Rei, do you know what you’re asking?”

She nodded, “I do.”

He then moved down to capture her lips in a slow kiss before pulling away, “Are you sure? I mean I don’t want to push you especially after what you’ve been through before.”

She then reached up and clasped her hands on his cheeks before she moved to press her lips to his, nipping at his bottom lip making her purr into her mouth before she pulled away, “I’m sure, Sin. I want you, more than anything.”

“Shit, Rei,” he breathed before his mouth went back onto her, shoving his tongue into her mouth and making her moan as his hands moved to race over her shoulders and arms, while hers pressed up against his chest, making into his mouth as his bare hands pressed against her muscled core for the first time.

And as his hands traveled up she arched into his hands as he gripped her breasts from beneath her shirt, and through the black band that secured her breasts to her chest, and as he started to fondle them and circle and flick the nipples through the cloth he pulled away from her lips and watch her face as she closed her eyes and let out small gasps as she writhed a bit beneath him.

His mouth then pressed against her neck before he pulled away and looked to her face, “Can I take them off? Your clothes?”

She nodded, looking away shyly as he started to tug at her top, sitting up a bit to let him pull her top and black band off at the same time, and the sight of her shirtless making his mouth water, before he sat up to remove his own top, jacket and vest and reika suffered from the same reaction as she caught look of his lean and defined chest. Though when she caught his eyes on her from she looked away shyly once again, feeling a little self conscious. 

Sin raised a brow, deciding that she looked cute when she was shy before he moved, putting a hand on her cheek to move her eyes back towards him as he moved to capture her lips, “You’re beautiful, Reika Artemina.”

He punctuated his point with another kiss before his lips started to travel down once again, and when one of his hands clutched her bare breast she let out a soft gasp at the new and gentle sensation and when his lips locked onto her nipple and began to suck on it she bit her lip as she arched into his touch, and he le tout a soft moan against it, making it vibrate and adding to the sensation as she let out a soft groan, and when he pulled away he kissed her collar bone before moving down her body, kissing her hard muscle and loving the feel of her soft skin over her strong body, and when he reached his core, his eyes floated up to hers and her face reddened when she saw the predatory look in his eyes and he bit at the band of her panties before he tugged it down with his mouth his eyes not moving from hers and when he pulled away he lifted her legs up and dragged the underwear over her legs, kissing her ankles before sliding them off completely and exposing her to him. 

And she bit her lip as he bent back over, his face hovering over her core as his hands spread her thighs, and when he blew a gentle wind over her core he saw her clench up in reflex before he moved to gently kiss her lips before swiping his tongue across her entrance making let out another gasp before he ran his tongue up and around her bud, circling it with his wet appendage before his lips surrounded it and began to suck making her jolt with pleasure before he hands moved to grip his that were now pressed flat on her stomach, just under her breasts as her smooth legs moved over his shoulders. 

Sinbad moaned in turn and started to apply more pressure gradually as he warmed her up, exposing her to a world of pleasure she had never known as  her hand snaked into his hair to tug lightly at it, her fingernails tracing across his scalp making him let out another moan as he pressed his tongue flat against her clit.

And as he continued his wonderful torture, he felt her thighs start to tremble as she pulled a bit tighter on his ahir, and when she let out a pitched whine he couldn’t help but to smirk before he went all out against her core, being gentle and rough at the same time as she neared the edge that he desperately wanted to throw her over at full force. 

“Sin...something...something’s…ngh!”

Her head turned as her core started to clench as it built in her core and when the pleasure suddenly exploded she moaned his name out as she experienced her first orgasm, her hips lifting and convulsing against his mouth as he followed her, drawing out her orgasm, the look on her face, the sound of her calling his name, and the taste of her core making him hotter than ever before, and when he pulled away he kissed the inside of her trembling and strong legs before he wiped his mouth on his arm. 

He sat back and watched her for a moment, his hands on her knees as he watched her chest rise and fall a bit raggedly, watching her hands loosen on the sheets before she opened her beautiful eyes to look up to him. He then moved and pressed his warm and soft lips to her skin moving back up her body before he came to where her neck met her shoulder and he pressed his lips to the skin and began to suck and when he pulled away he smirked at the sight of the blood on the surface, marking her perfectly before his lips captured her own. 

Her hands then moved, pressing flat against his chest before they began to slid down, making him let out a shaky breath as the feeling of her calloused hands run over his abdomen, and when they suddenly slipped past his pants and her finger glossed over the head of his hard length he let out a surprised gasp before he looked to her, a serious look crossing his face. 

“Are you alright to keep going?” he asked. 

She nodded, “I am, I’m sure,” she told him before she moved to press her lips against his neck, her hand wrapping around his length and pumping him slowly and lightly as she left a mark on his neck, and when she pulled away a satisfied smirk crossed her face as she looked at it, her mark just below his jaw and more towards the front. 

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” she told him as she pulled away. “Seeing those other girls leave their mark, it pissed me off.”

He laughed, “You won't have to worry about that again,” he told her.

His hands the moved to free himself from his pants and when he was fully exposed Reika’s eyes locked onto his member and when she held her gaze there for a few moments Sinbad raised an amused brow, “I hope you’re planning on tipping if you’re going to stare for that long.”

“Ugh.”

He laughed and moved to capture her lips whiel his hands interlocked with her own as his member ghosted across her core, making them both gasp, and as Sinbad started to enter her for the first time, Reika’s head went back in pleasure like never before and when he pressed fully in she let out a moan, and feeling a thousands times better than she thought it could ever feel and when she looked back into his eyes she felt the pleasure expand as their bodies moved together, watching the pleasure cross his own eyes as he let out a moans and groans at his slow rutting, his hands clasping at her own as his golden eyes looked back to her face, and when he started to increase in pace he pressed his lips against her own, drinking in her moan before he pressed his chest to her own, angling his hips up and hitting her exactly where she needed to be hit. 

“Fuck!” she inhaled the tip of his length hit the nail on the head and then slid by it perfectly, and he was rewards by feeling her core clench around his length as her legs squeezed his waist, her breath ragged against his shoulder. 

And as he continued to thrust he felt the pleasure start to increase and he felt the need to be rough, and he tested the waters by biting at her shoulder and when she let out a moan of pleasure he had his answer before he pulled away, and watched her face as he started to go rough and fast and as she cried out in pure pleasure he saw the tears starting to from in her eyes as the sensation overwhelmed her, and he felt it activate something primal in him as her eyes opened and looked into his, the tears rolling slowly over her cheeks. 

“Reika,” he groaned out. “I’m close...are you…”

“Yes,” she answered. “Just keep...please.”

He continued to thrust into her his pace ragged and uneven as he felt the giant wave coming and when Reika cried out once again as she jumped into the water, her core clenching around his length he felt the final wave wash over him as he pumped his seed into her, and when he stilled inside her he looked to her face and saw another tear rush down her cheek as she came down from her high, and he moved forward, breathing a bit ragged as he wiped the tear away before he moved forward and pressed a kiss to her rough lips. 

And when he pulled out she le tout a slight gasp before he moved and pulled the blanket over both fo them, holding her in his arms as they both came down from their high, and when Sinbad looked back to her he smiled softly when he saw that she was fast asleep against him. 

He then pressed a kissed against her forehead, “Thank you, Reika.”

~

“Rei, look at this!’

The blonde huffed as she was pulled to the side again, and smiled as he showed her yet another odd child’s toy, “Sin, we’re not tourists, you need to focus,” she told him. “She’s not going to pit you against some little kid, she’s going to throw the best she has at you.”

“I am focused,” he told her, turning to look at her wearing the trick glasses and when he smiled her eyes narrowed. 

She then reached forward and put the glasses back before tugging him along, “I’m serious,” she told him in a lower tone. “Slavery isn't a joke, having your body and your mind belong to someone else is nothing to laugh at alright? I know you don't know what it’s like and I plan on keeping it that way, got it? Now focus the fuck up.”

He felt the need to roll his eyes, “Nothing’s going to happen.”

“You don't know that,” she replied. “No one knows what’s going to happen, not even magi.”

He looked into her eyes, and saw the sincere worry and anxiety in her eyes and he took a deep breath before moving forward, planting a soft kiss on her forehead taking her hands in his own, “Alright,” he said softly. “I’ll focus, and I’ll win, for your sake.”

“Thank you, Sin.”

She knew that he was arrogant, and she was willing to accept that part of him he would just listen to her, after all she knew that she had her fair share of flaws that he had accepted as well. 

He then turned and they began to walk to the colosseum, and as they got closer and closer, Reika felt a hole from in her stomach, a bad feeling settling into her skin. This was a trap, and she knew it. No way Maader was going to make this an easy fight, and Reika didn't know how much she liked Sinbad fighting whatever horror awaited him without his djinns. Of course he was agile and quick, but what was a man against a monster?

And when they neared to where he would enter she bit her lip as he spoke to the two men who nodded there. 

“You must leave your djinns here, Lord Sinbad.”

He nodded and then turned to Reika, taking off his necklace first and putting it around her neck gently, smiling at the sight of his djinn around her lovely neck that had a few of his marks on it, before he then moved to hand his sword over and when Reika accepted it he saw her hands clench around it. His eyes then floated up to her own and he read her expression like a book. 

His hands then came up on both side of her cheeks, caressing them with care before he placed his forehead against her own looking into her eyes, “I will do everything I can to come back to you, milady,” he spoke. “I promise with my entire being that this will be alright.”

She didn't want to believe him, her past telling her to expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised by the opposite. Her head just simply nodded and he moved to press his lips to her own in one last soft kiss before he pulled away, locking eyes with her once more before the guard took her away, while the other one led her to a reserved spectating area. 

Reika sat on the stone bench as she looked around, sitting among nobles and those of higher birth, before she looked down to the arena, her hands clenching on the sword she still held, her foot beginning to tap as the minutes went by, refusing any food or drink, too nervous to accept either, and when the gongs finally rang her eyes narrowed. 

“Lord Sinbad of the Sindria Trading Company!”

Her eyes snapped to his form, the drums sounding as he walked out into the arena in gladiator armor, a sword in his hand, biting her lip when she saw no shield in his other hand. 

“Idiot,” she whispered.  _ What if they put you against a ranged opponent? Must you never think things through? _

Though Sinbad looked through the crowd trying to spot his lover, and when he saw her there he waved to her before blowing her a kiss, though when her eyes merely sharpened on him he could hear her growl in his mind before he snapped up straight and looked forward, gulping hard. 

Reika then turned and looked to the other side and when she saw a young boy walk out holding a massive sword with ease her eyes narrowed as her grip tightened on the blade, her knuckles going white. She then looked down to Sin, knowing exactly what the red hair and eyes meant. The boy was fanalis and dangerous. One just like him had nearly killed her when she made the foolish mistake of taking one on. One slap of the hand had broken three of her ribs. 

She watched her lover’s face, but the distance made it difficult to read him. Did he know what he was fighting? He had to right? He was smarter than her, well-read and knew of things she never even thought of. Sinbad had to know what a fanalis was. 

~

Reika’s eyes went wide and she stood as Sinbad charged to boy and moved to the railings, dropping his sword, and the world seemed to stop as the boy landed a life threatening his to his chest and sent him back to tumble through the dirt. Her hands gripped the rails, her arms shaking as the world blurred out around her, her amethyst eyes focused completely on him as he laid there unmoving. Tears started to build in her eyes as her world stopped. 

“Move,” she whispered. 

Her arms began to shake, as she felt the hope slipping from her. The light he had conjured inside her fading. 

“Move,” she hissed. 

A single tear streaked down her cheek as the guards opened the gate. 

“Move,” she ordered as the guards raced towards his unmoving body. 

Her heart was thumping rapidly in her ears as the familiar fear settled into her spine as she sucked in a breath. Her eyes closed shut for a few moments as she prayed, more tears falling down her cheeks and when she opened them back up she watched his form desperately, and when she saw the guards signal that he was alive she felt the greatest relief wash over her, but just after that relief flowed into her another choking fear gripped her. 

He had lost. 

He was no longer Lord Sinbad. 

He was now Sinbad the Slave. 

Anger washed over her as she turned and spotted Maader sitting up above in a skybox, the woman’s eyes directly locked with the blonde’s, and Reiak immediately moved as soon as the older woman did, and she spotted the older woman moving down the halls of the Colosseum she moved forward. 

“Maader!” she snarled at her, standing just behind the guards who had moved their spears to stop her. “You cheated!”

“How so?” Maader asked, tilting her head to the side. 

“The boy!” she boomed. 

“The boy was fanalis,  he was-”

“I know what a fanalis is!” Reika snapped. “But pitting him against one without his djinns or proper weaponry, you-”

“There Is nothing you can prove, my dear,” the woman spoke calmly, a smile on her face. “Though if you’re not going to believe me, then perhaps you’ll believe your love.”

She then turned towards the guards and gestured them forward, and Reika’s eyes went wide as the guards moved into sight and tossed Sinbad in front of her. His hands cuffed, and a collar attached to a chain around his throat. His eyes looking weakly up to her, his hair loosed and dirty. He looked weaker than she’d ever seen him and her fists clenched as Maader moved towards him and placed her hands on his body. Her hand tugging on his chain to pull him up onto his knees so he could look at her. 

“Tell her, Sinbad.”

She looked into his eyes as he spoke.

“Stop, Reika...I lost...she’s right.”

The blonde’s eyes went wide in disbelief, her hands shaking as she looked to him, absolutely defeat in his eyes. Never, never had that look ever been there. Not when he had saved her from the slums, not when she had fought against her old master, not when he had been turned away in Sassan or nearly killed in Artemyra. Never had the look been on his face, not even the slightest hint of it, and she felt herself start to fall apart. 

If he didn't believe he could get out, then how...how were they supposed to…

“Accept this, my dear,” Maader spoke, failing to draw the brawler’s eyes away. “Now run along and back to your company, little girl.”

Reika then took a step backwards, but as Maader turned away she suddenly saw the will surge back into his eyes in a single moment, and he nodded to her before the witch tugged on his chain and snapped his gaze away and Reika watched as they walked away, and when he was gone she turned around, keeping her chin up a focused look crossing her face. 

Now wasn't the time to fall apart, into grief or into anger. 

He had been bluffing in front of Maader so that he could get in that single look. That single look that reminded her of why she had chosen to give her heart to him, of why she had followed him without even a single drop of doubt tainting their waters. 

She was going to get him out of slavery, and she didn't give a damn how. 

Her hand then came up and she gripped the red jewel there. 

“I will do everything,  _ everything _ , to get you out. I won’t let your story, our story, end here.”

_ I love you, Sin.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the patience and support, and I did have someone ask me what songs I used to write the relationship between Sinbad and Reika with, and the answer is:
> 
> "Home" by _StoneOcean_
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkW-SmYGrqE
> 
> and
> 
> "Forbidden Friendship" by _John Powell_
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CJ96LGGP6w
> 
> If you want me to explain this you can leave a comment, follow me on twitter @243_Halo or even email me at halo.girl.0243@gmail.com. Ask anything and everything and I will happily explain, and I always love constructive criticism!  
> Thank you!


	19. Chapter 19

Reika paced outside, her fists clenched in absolute rage as her cheek burned in pain. The hot sun beating down on her, only making her pace more feverently. 

_ Reika sent Seren a glare as she stood at the table, speaking as if she had been placed in charge when Rurumu was made the new head of the company. It only served to fuel Reika’s already flaming bonfire, as the hand that gripped Valefor’s necklace itched to have her dagger in it.  _

_ “We should focus on other matters, I’m sure Sinbad is already-” _

_ “Who the fuck let you in here?” Reika snarled.  _

_ The princess jumped a bit at the venom dripping from the brawler's voice as her eyes snapped to meet hers, and she felt her blood run cold at the murderous look in her eyes and she swallowed dryly before speaking, knowing fully that the blonde had killed others for a whole lot less.  _

_ “I just came to help.” _

_ “By suggesting we leave to rot!” Reika boomed.  _

_ Everyone froze, their eyes on Reika, whom had returned as quickly as possible from the Gladiatorial Arena ready to snap the neck of anything that stood in her way, that had only intensified when she saw how calm everyone else had seemed at the news of his loss, and now Seren was receiving the brunt of that anger, serving as an outlet.  _

_ Seren just stared her down and that infuriated Reika even more as she activated her djinn subconsciously, making Seren take a step back when she saw Reika’s eyes go black, her irises glowing red.  _

_ “Get. Out.” _

_ Seren hesitated, “But-” _

_ “NOW!” Reika boomed, catching everyone in the room off guard since that would mark the first time Reika had ever truly raised her voice at anyone.  _

_ The girl then nodded and walked out, her ladies on her heels. Reika then looked around the table, “Anyone else feel like-” _

_ Everyone’s eyes went wide as the sudden smack rang through the air as Rurumu slapped Reika full force, making the blonde fall back and onto the floor for the sudden and unexpected hit. She then looked up to the older woman a snarl crossing her features, “What the fuck do you-” _

_ “You are better than this!” Rurumu snapped at her, making Reika stop. “You are not some feral dog! Now go cool off and don’t come back until you’ve gained some sense!” _

Reika let out a growl before she turned and slammed her fist into the stone, the concrete cracking as the pain from her hand helped to alleviate the anger inside her, and she took a deep breath backing off, clenching her injured hand before she looked to the sky.

She had been through so much in the last year, she had defeated her master, earned her and her sister’s freedom, captured her own djinn and won her place by Sinbad’s side, and now she had failed to protect him from an attacker, but that didn't mean she was just going to roll over and cry. She was going to get him back no matter what it took, no matter how long it took. 

He’d given her everything, saved her life and given a new future, and there was no way in hell she was letting it end here, she was going to get him away from that witch and then she was going to take her head and make her an example and a warning to anyone else who would dare attempt to hurt those she cared for again. 

“Calmed down?”

Reika turned and saw Seren these, and her eyes sharpened, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m not scared of you,” she told her, a blank face on her features. 

“You should be,” Reika muttered

“What?”

The blonde straightened up, “I don’t care if you are,” she replied louder and began to walk up to her, and when she hit her shoulders into her Seren growled a bit. 

“What weight are you trying to throw around?”

Reika’s fist clench and she bore her teeth. 

“You’re acting this way becuase you’re weak. Why Sinbad chose a savage like you baffles me.”

Reika’s hand surged forward as she picked up the Princess by the collar, holding her up in the air with one hand, her eyes locked onto hers as tears built inside them, her hand beginning to shake, the tears rolling down her cheeks as something shifted in her gaze. Seren’s brows furrowed as fear started to build in her gut as the blonde’s eyes stayed locked with her own as she pulled her dagger out without pulling her gaze away, not even speaking as she began to raise it. 

“Reika.”

Seren’s eyes darted to Jafar who had appeared there, holding the blonde’s wrist with a loose grip, “Stop. You’re not that person anymore.”

Seren looked back to Reika as her eyes seemed to shift before she dropped her back to her feet and backed off. 

“Go inside, Rei, go apologize to Rurumu.”

The blonde just nodded, shame shining brightly in her eyes as she looked to him her brows furrowing a bit in a silent apology before she pulled away to walk inside. Jafar then turned back Seren, his eyes narrowed, “You shouldn’t provoke her, your highness. She may act tame, but she still has her claws.”

“She’s a savage,” Seren hissed. “Getting as angry as she does.”

Jafar just nodded his head at her, “She is defensive and aggressive becuase of her past,” Jafar replied. “She’s gotten better, but she still has a ways to go, but you shouldn’t put more stress on her then she’s already in.”

He then turned away, “You should rethink as to if you want her as an ally or an enemy. She’s a good friend, but she’s the worst enemy you’ll ever have if you chose so.”

He then walked off following behind Reika and into the building leaving Seren there, her eyes looking down to the ground as she contemplated, before her face soured and she walked away, more irritated than she had been before.

~

The blonde’s eyes glanced behind her once again as she walked the steps up the company and she spotted the figure for the fourth time that day before she turned and looked to one of the workers asking quickly where Rurumu was and when they answered she moved through the company and found her quickly. 

“We have a problem,” Reika said as she walked up to Rurumu. 

“What is it?”

“I’m being followed and watched,” she answered, “Multiple people in the last few days, and I’m willing to bet the fucking witch has something to do with it.”

“Are you sure it's Maader?”

“Who else would it be?” Reika replied. “I’m no interest to anyone else, and she knew I was with Sinbad.”

Rurumu took a deep breath, thinking for a few moments before she looked back to Reika, “We need to put you on the map.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maader is suspicious becuase you’re so unknown, but if we put you into the spotlight it’ll turn her attention away from the rest of the company.”

Reika’s brows furrowed, “But that’ll mean pulling me away from helping get Sin out.”

“Yes, it will,” Rurumu replied, and continued to speak, not letting her retaliate. “I know you won't like it, but we can’t make a move if we’re constantly being watched, especially you Reika.”

“So what? I just have to sit on the sidelines?” she asked. 

“More than that,” she answered. “We’re going to fire you, cut all ties with the company and until Sinbad is back all communication between you and the company needs to be cut off, all funds and all support. We can’t be connected in any trackable way.”

Reika’s brows furrowed as her chest clenched, “I see.”

“It’s only temporary, but it's necessary Reika.”

“What about Clara?”

“Clara will come with you, you do have enough money to stay in a hotel, don’t you?”

Reika nodded, “I do, more than enough.”

“Good, then you’ll leave tonight, alright?”

Her eyes fell to the floor, her gut churning inside of her, “Alright.”


	20. Chapter 20

“And who’s this runt?”

Reika’s eye twitched as the guards moved over to her, and she looked up and spotted them looking at her, disgusting smirks on their faces as their eyes ran over her perversely, she ground her teeth together before she turned back to what she was doing choosing to ignore them as she continued t wrap her forearms before she slipped the designated armor on. 

“Is this your first fight, girl?”

“Only in the arena,” she answered, keeping contact as limited as she could, as she picked up her shield, and then moved to put the circlet with a red feather embedded in it, as if to somehow show off that she was Artemyran. 

She had quickly learned that the Gladiatorial Ring was just as dramatic as the Theatre, each warrior had their clothing, their armor tailored to match their ‘character’ and the one selected for her had been an exotic Artemyran warrior. She wore the clothing Sin had purchased for her as she had requested, but they had given her golden shin and arm guards, along with a shoulder guard that strap went across her torso. 

“Are you actually Artemyran?”

“Yes,” she answered as she moved to her blade, gripping the leather handle loosely before twirling it in her wrist. 

“Reika.”

She turned at the sound of the familiar voice and she saw the female attendant there who looked at her with a smile, “It’s time.”

The blonde nodded and followed after the woman, and when they stopped in front of the heavy metal gates, Reika looked to her. 

“How are the bets?”

“Leaning towards The Mad Dog, unfortunately, Miss Reika.”

“How much money will I make from this?”

“100 gold, if you live through the loss, but it's projected at 300 gold and possibly more for a win, milady.”

Reika looked back to her, “Seems low.”

“I’m sorry, milady,” she replied as the gate opened, “but the pay schedule is strict.”

“How do I get more?”

“On how much and how well you win, milady.”

She let out a ‘hmph’, “Fine then,” she said as she walked out, the drums sounding as she walked out into the arena and her eyes remained focused ahead of her as the people cheered around her, and she saw that her oppoenent lacked the same precise focus she did as the rather large man came out of his ring with more energy than she, pumping his arm with his two axes in the air, flexing and showboating for the crowd that was drinking out of his palms. 

He was large and tanned, standing well over 6 feet and towering above her, metal plates on each shoulder and his chest and midsection left exposed, showing off a tattoo of a large dog snarling and foaming at the mouth, the only thing interrupting the ink lines being the battle scars that lined his body. 

And when they both reached the middle of the arena, a bit more time on the ‘Mad Dog’s’ part, the drums silenced as the crowd did, and Reika took her stance, holding her shield out in front of her, pointing her sword at her opponent, as he took his won stance, wearing his metal helmet and what appeared to be a collar which made Reika’s eyes narrow even more. 

He was a slave, a glorified slave at that. 

“Fucking Reim,” she growled. 

And when the gong went off Reika exploded forward as the Mad Dog swung and as his axe came down she rolled under the swipe before she came to her feet and slashed at him, cutting his side before she turned and blocked his other axe with her shield that sent her sliding back, Mad Dog snarling at her.

“Fucking Bitch!” he growled as his side bled and when he charged at her she sucked in a breath as she moved around his blows that cut into the Earth, keeping her shield up and moving her feet, and when he left an opening she went in and snarled loudly as cut as his arm, the sword burying itself into his flesh, but failing to cut through. 

His hand immediately came up and gripped the blade, holding her in place as she tried to pull away and the red glint glew brightly in his eyes as he turned and tossed her across the stadium, and when she landed she lost hold of her shield as she tumbled through the dirt, and she looked up when she stopped rolling and her eyes narrowed when she saw Mad Dog coming at her as the crowd cheered loudly. 

“Destroy her!” she heard a man yell. 

“Tear the Artemyran to pieces!”

She got up and held her fists up slipping into her brawler stance and pulled the knife from the belt, and when Mad Dog swung at her again she ducked under the blow before she moved in close slashing at his core before she jumped up, her heel hitting his chin and knocking him back, and when she landed she charged him again, this time slashing at his wrist causing him to release one axe, while her foot came back around slamming into his cheek as she slashed at the other one, getting him to release his weapons as he stumbled away from her once again. 

Her heart was pumping loudly in her ears as the crowd chanted around her, and when Mad Dog stumbled back towards her she flashed to a time when she was young, when she was fighting in the alleys in her raggedy and dirty clothes for a piece of bread, and the red glint entered her own eyes as she charged forward unleashing everything she had as her fists, feet and blade struck him over and over again, pushing him farther and farther back, and when they came back to where her sword was she picked it off the ground and began attacking him with it as well. 

At the end of her offensive he fell to his knees, cuts bleeding heavily and bruises throbbing and Reika stood in front of him panting as the adrenaline pumped through her veins, her instincts running on high as she gripped the blade loosely, the intensity of a killer surrounding her and making the Mad Dog tremble as he bowed, “I yield!”

“Kill him!” the crowd began chanting. 

“Kill him!”

“Kill him!”

‘Kill him!”

She took a deep breath before she moved forward, deciding that if the roles were reversed he wouldn't hesitate, after all she had watched him tear an arm off of a fighter the day before. And with a single lunge, she put The Mad Dog down, burying the blade into his back, making the blood fall to the earth and turn the dust into irony mud. 

The crowd erupted into cheers as the Mad Dog died and she took a deep breath as the crowd cheered around her and she looked up and saw all the people, all of them chanting their name over and over again, and as flowers landed around her she began to walk out of the stadium as red eyes watched her back. 

~

“Reika! You’re home!”

Reika looked up as Clara got up and ran over to her, and she smiled softly as her sister ran up to her, “How was your fight?”

“I won,” she replied. 

“I knew you would, you always win!” the little girl replied, and Reika then looked up to the maid who nodded to her with a soft smile. 

“Would you like some tea, Lady Reika?”

“That would be wonderful,” she replied. 

It had been two weeks since her and Clara had left the Sindria Trading Company, and they were doing quite well. Reika had begun to rent out a lovely home for her and hire a maid as well to watch over Clara along with a teacher. They were getting along well without the company and that comforted Reika a bit, knowing that she could provide for her sister with the money she earned, but at the same time she yearned to be back at the Company every day. 

But more than anything she just wanted Sinbad back. 

She wanted to be in his arms, to feel his lips on her skin, his hands in her own, she wanted to small his hair, but more than any of that she just wanted to talk to him, to hear his smooth voice and to listen to his stories. 

She let out a sigh before she moved to sit in one of the chairs as the maid brought her tea back, and Reika accepted with a smile before she took a sip as she watched Clara draw with the pastels and paper that she had bought her, a smile coming to her face when she saw Kali come over and settle next to the her. 

It was easy to admit, the cat was Clara’s through and through, her older sister only borrowed her now and then. When she finished her tea her hand went to Sinbad’s necklace that stayed around her necklace, her calloused fingers tracing the jewel carefully, methodically as she thought. 

~

“You’re a fucking liar.”

“I’m telling you the truth, lass.”

She looked to Jackeye with a sharp look, “Glare at me all you want, Lass, it won't change the facts.”

The blonde closed her eyes and hunched over the desk, growling lowly as she looked over the report once again, “Sin wouldn’t...he wouldn’t just submit like that.”

“I’m not so sure, Lass,” Jackeye replied. “I know you wouldn’t, but this Sinbad of yours, is he that sturdy? To withstand that sort of mental fuckage that slaves owners do? Maader in particular has perfected slave taming, she harms them, gives them no hope and then gives them a job and then treats them like their her bloody own children, turns them around and makes them love her.”

Her fists clenched, her nails digging into the wood, “He has to be faking it.”

Jackeye huffed before he moved forward putting a hand on her shoulder, “I love you like my own flesh and blood lass, so I’m not going to lie to you,” he started making her look up. “He’s not faking it lass, he’s one of her ‘children’, and might be too late to get him back.”

She looked to him for a few moments before the tears started to come to her eyes. 

“Let him go, lass. He’s no more use to you.”

She gripped the wood of the desk, the tears falling down onto the paper as her shoulders tensed up, her teeth biting her lip to try and keep it all in, but it all slipped out, “It’s not about how fucking ‘useful’ he was,” she growled, looking up at him. 

Jackeye looked into her eyes, gazing into the raging bonfire behind her eyes. He couldn't help to feel a bit proud of her, she had changed in such a small window of time. The dead barren pit that he had seen in her eyes the first time he’d met her had grown, from the small sparks that he had seen when he negotiated for the spice, and now her soul was burning, passion and emotion bringing her once dead eyes, now full of life. 

The little bird, the one with clipped wings was now a phoenix, and he feared for any man, any woman and anything that stepped between this phoenix and anything she wanted. And this boy, this Sinbad, she wanted with her entire being and would give anything and everything to have him. 

He then smiled, “Alright lass, I’ll shoot a few ideas Rurumu’s way, alright. No need to bloody cry about it.”

“Fuck you, Jack,” she said as she moved to wipe the tears. 

“Don’t apologize lass, it’s good to see you with a little fire in your gut,” he said patting her shoulder. “You’ve grown, more than I ever thought you would.”

He then turned to walk out fo the office, but as he opened the door he remembered something and turned to look back to her, “Oi, lass.”

She looked up to him. 

“When we get this boy of yours out, promise that you’ll bring him by. I’d love to meet the lad who saved ya.”

He then left without another word and after a few moments a smile came to Reika’s face, before she moved to follow after him and outside to where her sister greeted him and gave him a hug before he went on his way. 

“Rei!”

The blonde looked down to her little sister, “How did it go?”

“It was good, Clara.”

“Are we going to get Sinbad out?”

Reika smiled down at her and moved to pick her up, “Soon, kiddo, soon.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait! Softball season is always crazy!"

“Miss Reika.”

The older girl turned and looked to the maid, putting her book down, “Yes?”

“There’s a woman here to see you,  she said she’s an old friend of yours.”

“What’s her name?”

“Maader.”

Her eyes went wide before she got up, “Stay with Clara.”

“Yes, milady.”

Reika moved down the stairs quickly and as soon as she spotted Maader in her new home her eyes narrowed as she growled, “What the fuck are you doing here, witch?”

Maader turned and smiled sweetly at her, “Hello, Reika, has been a while hasn’t it?”

The blonde stepped off of the stairs and approached her, standing a good five feet off not wanting to get too close to the wicked woman. 

“What are you here?”

“I came to speak with you,” she said and then gestured to the couch, “May I sit?”

The brawler didn’t respond and the woman moved to sit anyways while Reika remained standing her intense gaze fixed on her, all of her senses running on hyperdrive as she spoke. 

“I’ve been going to your matches at the Gladiatorial Ring and I must say I am impressed,” she began, looking around the home. “You’re quite the warrior, I’ve never seen such ferocity and brutality come from a fellow woman before. It’s...captivating to watch a woman fight like that.”

Reika didn't respond. 

“So, I’ve decided I want to invite you to join me,” Maader replied. “Become my thing, my slave and fight for me Reika.”

“Why the fuck would I ever do that.”

A wicked smile crossed Maader’s face as she looked to her, “You’ll get to see Sinbad again.”

She froze when she heard those words, and Maader’s confidence grew when she saw the reaction in the younger woman’s eyes, “So I was correct in assuming that you and Sinbad were an item, yes?” she asked, “Well I wasn't really assuming, the way he spoke your name when he was shivering and cold, it was like a prayer. Of course he loves you.”

Reika’s eyes snapped back to the cold, and Maader hesitated as she looked to her. She had done her research on this girl as well, and she knew she wasn't only dangerous in the ring. Unlike the others of that damn company she was a wildcard. Rurumu and jafar wouldn't try to kill her, but this young woman was different. She wasn't a politician or a merchant, she was a weapon. She knew she had to be careful.

“I have him here you know.”

Reika’s fists clenched and she looked out the window and saw the carriage waiting outside of her home, and she then looked to Maader and watched as she unrolled a contract, “All you have to do is sign yourself over and become my property and I’ll even let you two stay together.”

But she wanted Reika to be hers, she wanted to own her mind and her body. She wanted the brawler to be her child like Sinbad had become. She wanted to wield this weapon. 

“You’ll get to see him whenever you want to, be with him alone even. It’ll be no different than when you two were at the company, all you have to do is sell yourself to me, Reika. That’s all you have to do.”

The young woman stared into her eyes, and Maader felt the need to squirm as the blonde’s presence seemed to grow as she looked to her, and she waited anxiously for her answer and when she have her answer Maader’s eyes narrowed. 

“Fuck off.”

“I’m giving you a chance-”

“You’re not getting anything,” the blonde replied, her tone deepening. “I will  _ never  _ be a slave again. When I fight and kill will be determined by me. I’ll never kill for someone like you, witch, and if I ever see you again I’ll rip that head from your shoulders and use your spine as a pike.”

Maader gulped before she moved, and when she reached for the contract Reika moved and slammed her knife into it looking into her eyes. The older woman gulped before getting up and moving towards the door, hesitating, her fear over taken by her desire. 

“Do you want to see him?”

Reika turned and threw her other knife, the blade landing in the wood next to her head, and she watched as the blonde pulled her other from the wood, her eyes locked onto her own. 

The older woman then left, and she jumped when the door was slammed behind her and she moved a little more quickly to the carriage getting in, and she took a deep breath as it began to roll forward and she then looked to the young man sitting in front of her. 

“It everything alright, Lady Maader? Did the deal go sour?”

“It did, Sinbad, but it's not over.”

~

“Reika!”

The blonde turned as Kassio moved over to her, wrapping his arms around her before she even registered he was there. A soft smile crossed her face and she wrapped her arms around him as well before they both pulled away, and he looked into her eyes for a few moments before moving away slowly as the others approached. 

“It’s good to have you back, Reika,” Rurumu said. 

“Thanks, it's good to be back,” she replied. 

Jafar then came up and Reika moved and they bumped their forearms together in their usual greeting. 

“Nice to see you, Street Rat.”

“Thanks, Tiny. You too.”

The others then moved to greet Reika as well, the seasoned workers moving to welcome her back with smiles and hugs. 

“Alright everyone, let’s give Reika and Clara time to settle back in,” Jafar cut through. 

The workers nodded and moved away and Reika nodded to Jafar as a maid moved to assist Clara, and after he insisted that he had it handled Reika climbed the stairs and up to her and Sinbad’s room. She stopped a bit in the doorway as she looked around the room, it was freshly clean and had been maintained despite no one using it for the last two months. 

She moved in slowly, looking around the room before she moved over to the closet, opening it and when she saw both of their clothes hung up there before reaching in, taking the sleeve of one of his shirts and pressing it to her nose, a soft smile crossed her face when she smell his familiar scnet, a combination of male musk and the saltiness of the ocean. 

Though when two knocks sounded at the door she turned and saw Kassio there who looked to her with a smile, “I just wanted to see if you wanted to go a few rounds a little later.”

She smiled and nodded, “I would,” she told him. 

”I thought so,” he replied walking in further, his welcoming look shifting. “It was unfair of them to ask you to join the Gladiatorial ring, unfair of them to ask you to leave at all.”

“It wasn't.”

“It  _ was  _ Rei,” he countered. “You did everything you could for Sinbad and just becuase he fucked up you had to leave, and don't think I didn't notice that new scar on your nose or the one on your side either. You were injured becuase of him.”

“I don't want to fight Kass,” she told him softly, her eyes looking tired. “Okay?”

He looked to her for a few moments, not wanting to fold but doing so in the end, “Okay,” he finally said and she smiled in relief, and she then moved towards him and out fo the door, saying that she was going to go check on Clara. He then looked abkc into the room and sneered a bit before moving away, closing the door a bit harder than necessary as he followed after his djinn capturer, and he followed her to Clara’s room, where he watched in the doorway as Kali came up to her, purring as she scratched the bottom of her chin.

Reika then turned her attention to Clara and smiled as the girl struggled to hang up her clothes on the hangars and she moved to help only to be swat at by the smaller girl.

“I can do it!” she told her, making her older sister raise a brow. 

“What’s up with you?” the blonde asked. 

“Nothing’s wrong, I just want to do something by myself!” she told her. “I don't need you helping me all the time! I can take care of myself!”

Reika’s eyes then narrowed, “Is that so?”

“Yeah! I can!”

“You’re twelve.”

“So? You took care of both of us when you were twelve!”

Her older sister’s brow twitched as her younger sister brought up their past lives, “That’s different.”

“How?”

“Becuase I was getting raped to feed you,” she told her. 

Kassio’s eyes went wide as Reika dropped the bomb, and her younger sister went silent looking away for a few moments, before her eyes narrowed determined no to lose the argument, “Well that was your choice! You allowed that to happen!”

Kassio froze in place, his eyes darting between the two sisters, perplexed as how an argument about hanging clothes had escalated to Clara blaming her elder sister for her own rape.  _ Women are terrifying,  _ he thought to himself yet again. 

Reika’s eyes just looked to her sister, and the silence made her younger sister want to squirm and wiggle under her gaze, but she held strong looking right back into the older girl’s cold stare. That is until Reika turned wordlessly and moved towards the door, not even speaking to Kassio as she moved into the hallway and walking away and out to the courtyard, though when the blonde let out a whistle Kassio watched as Kali got up and followed her and he moved to follow as well as Clara was left in the room alone. 

~

Kassio sat down next to Reika both of them sweaty from the training as they drank from water cups that a worker had brought out for them. And there was concern in Kassio’s eyes as he looked to Reika. She hadn’t spoken a word since she left Clara’s room and he could tell she was deep in thought as well. 

“Hey, Rei,” he said getting her attention. “You know it's not your fault right? All the shit that happened to you?”

She looked away for a few moments, “I know,” she said softly. “But _ she  _ thinks it was, and that’s all that matters.”

“She probably didn't even mean it,” Kassio replied. “Girls are...complicated at her age.”

She didn't reply only getting up and looking to him, “Let’s keep going.”

“Yeah, sure.”

~

Two days passed and Rurumu had taken note of how distant the sisters seemed. When they had left Reika was attentive to her sister, making sure that Clara was safe and alright as she had always done, but the last two days Reika had been keeping her distance. During breakfast the two sat on opposite sides fo the room, and even the maids had come to her saying that Clara was in a terrible mood and Jafar had told her that Reika wasn’t eating properly. 

“Clara?”

“Yes?”

“Is everything alright with your sister?”

Clara looked up to her a look of guilt crossing her face, “No,” she answered honestly. “It’s not.”

“What happened?”

The little girl looked down to her work and tears then started to bubble up in her eyes as her lip trembled, “I...I didn't mean to,” she said. “I...I just wanted to hang up my clothes on my own...I...I didn't mean to make Rei hate me...I...I didn't mean it.”

“Mean what?”

“I said a bad thing.”

“What bad thing Clara?”

“I told her that it was her fault,” she explained. “I told her that it was her fault that she got raped.”

Rurumu looked to her, and Clara looked back up, tears streaming down her cheeks, “I didn't mean to make her hate me, I really didn’t...I just…”

The older woman then began to rub her back, “Ssh, Clara it's alright. I’m sure Reika doesn't hate you.”

“Yeah she does,” she replied. “She hasn't talked to me since then, she hasn't even looked at me.”

The older woman took a deep breath, “You hurt her feelings Clara, this is what happens when you do that.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rurumu said sharply. “If you break a bowl, even if you didn't mean to, doesn't mean you didn't break it. You still broke the bowl, and you still hurt Reika,  _ even _ if you didn't mean to. Do you understand?”

Clara nodded and the older woman then moved to wipe her tears and snort away with a rag, “Good, now how about we go find Reika and apologize, yes?”

The little girl nodded, and they got up and moved to go find Reika, finding her in the courtyard, practicing with her djinn equipping fully and then releasing the equip, taking small intervals between to build up her tolerance for her djinn. 

“Reika.”

The girl turned when she heard Rurumu’s voice and unequipped, and she spotted Clara next to her with tear soaked cheeks as she looked back to her. 

“Clara has something she want to say.”

She then patted Clara and the girl moved forward, “I’m sorry, Reika,” she told her, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks again. “I’m sorry I said it was your fault, it wasn’t your fault. I was just mad. I really didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”

Reika looked to her as the little girl run up to her, hugging her waist and burying her face into her stomach, “I’m sorry,” she repeated, holding her tightly, as if her older sister would disappear. “I know you work hard for me, I know that you’ve done everything for me. I’m sorry.”

The older girl smiled softly and moved to crouch down and take her sister into her arms, “It’s alright, Clara. I understand,” she told her, moving to wipe her tears away, “But I need to realize that you’re getting older too, and that you can do a few things on your own here and there.”

Clara then moved to wrap her arms around her sister’s neck, “I love you.”

Reika wrapped her arms back around her sister, “I love you too, Clara.”


End file.
